


Falling Into a Beautiful Black

by Rolling_girl27



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Imprisonment, M/M, Mech Preg, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Transformer Sparklings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-23 02:13:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7462695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rolling_girl27/pseuds/Rolling_girl27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Megatron captures Ratchet while the rest of his team is away from the Autobot base, and the sadistic warlord decides to take his pleasure from him.</p><p>But what will he plan to do when the medic gives birth to the Decepticon leader's heir in a cold, dark cell?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Product of a Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> A new work is here! Yaaay!
> 
> And it wouldn't be possible without Autobotmedic's assistance :3 Thanks for giving me the awesome idea for this story!
> 
> This story is set in the Transformers Prime Universe. As you may have noticed on the rest of the story, this contains graphic rape and other dark themes, so viewer discretion is advised ;)
> 
> I hope you like it!  
> -Rolling_girl27

It was a cold night. Very, _very_  cold. So cold that his frame couldn't stop shivering and rattling. Ratchet was surrounded by darkness, aside from the natural light of his optics and the very dim reflect of the moonlight rays across the tiny windows of the cell.

This isn't the place where he would have wanted to give birth to his first creation.

Another powerful contraction hit his abdomen, making his weak frame jolt with the little strenght he had left, thick fluids seeping out from the edges of his closed panel as he tried to get in position to start pushing. The pain was making it difficult to move though, each contraction felt stronger than the last one and even shifting around made him feel like he would be split apart.

Panting heavily, Ratchet spread his legs, resting his back on the cold wall of the cell he was in. He wasn't a mech used to luxuries, no, he had seen the war and was already accustomed to move from place to place and enduring long lunar-cycles without recharge as he healed injured Autobot soldiers, so this cell was nothing new for him. Nothing he hadn't endured in the past.

Or at least he thought so.

Well, the thick brickwalls offered some protection from the others mechs and femmes imprisoned in the same basement, the Vehicons at least fed him- not a good-quality energon, but it was better than having nothing- and he had been given some much-needed solitude since his capture. Ratchet didn't complain, his energon levels were low and his frame was badly injured, and he didn't dare to fight back when he was in such a weak state. But it's not like he would submit either.

Surprisingly, the Vehicons and pretty much everyone else didn't mistreat him as he had expected; no torture, no humilliations, just a silent walk to the cells kept in the deepest parts of the Nemesis. He was glad to not have to deal with some Decepticon buffoons.

And even if the Vehicons paid no mind to him, Ratchet would have expected at least a bit of decency from their leader.

He still remembered that day, four or five months ago, when the warlord decided to give a special 'visit' to the Autobot medic.

Ratchet was lying on the floor, elbows keeping him still on his side as he stared into nothing, heavy pedesteps echoing in the dark halls as he felt a shiver down his spine.

Suddenly, the pedesteps stopped, and he heard the sound of the lock of his celldoor being deactivated as the connected bars slid aside with a horrendous 'screech'. He heard somebot step inside, and the door was closed again.

He didn't bother to look up and meet his visitor. He didn't care about anything right now, he just wanted to be the _frag alone._ He had already planned a false speech full of convincing and exaggerated lies, just in case they dared to interrogate him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have in here?" That deep voice. That _slagging_  voice. He knew it very well, and it was the last mech he would have liked to talk to in this situation. Or ever in his life.

Megatron paced slowly around Ratchet, a satisfactory smirk in his faceplates as his blood-red optics were fixed on the Autobot beneath him. "I do _not_  wish your company, Megatron. And I'd be very grateful if you left me alone." Ratchet snapped with the harshest voice he managed to make, not turning to look at the warlord and instead he kept staring at the floor.

"Such an ungrateful creature. I would have expected some manners from Optimus' favourite medic." Ratchet offlined his optics, squeezing them hard as he tried to hold in all the rage and forcing himslef not to turn around and give Megatron a hard blow on his helm.

"It looks like Optimus forgot to teach you so many things, aside from manners and being polite. Since he was here, by my side in my army, he has been exceptional. Smart, strong and a great soldier. He was indeed a mech worth of the Prime title." Megatron kneeled down and pulled Ratchet's chin so they were face to face. "Too bad he wasn't able to protect you."

Ratchet bared his denta and jerked his helm away from Megatron's grasp. "I don't need to be protected! I'm not Optimus' responsibility." Oh, but he wished he had had somebot to fight by his side.

When the Decepticons attacked the base it hapened that Ratchet was the only one present; Bumblebee and Bulkhead were playing around with the children somewhere in the city; Optimus and Smokescreen apparently were patroling the area while Arcee and Knock Out went to investigate a supposed abandoned energon reservoir signals.

Ratchet had been busy working on his tools, repairing them and sadly concentrated enough to be unprepared for the upcoming attack. Everything happened too quickly: suddenly there were blasters shooting across his base as several Decepticons began beating him and trying to cuff him. The warning messages were clouding his vision, so he didn't notice when he was carried to the ship, energon leaking from the many cuts and abrasions all over his frame.

"Well, I think you're a well-earned prize, medic. I wonder what your pathetic Autobots' faces will be like when they see you like this, all weak and at my complete mercy." Megatron's breath suddenly felt dangerously close, hot air being vented out at the back of his neck as he felt the heat emmanating from that powerful frame.

"Too bad you won't be able to see them" Ratchet started shaking a little bit from the closeness of his worst enemy. He stared at the floor again, not daring to look up at his captor for any reason. "Because we will fragging kill you and all of your comrades before you even turn your helm."

Megatron pressed his frame on Ratchet's side, the chuckle he emmited making powerful vibrations run across Ratchet's smaller frame. The Autobot medic stiffened when he felt a clawed servo stroking his valve panel, digits already teasing the seams. "Your expectatives are very high, Autobot. As if any of your mechs would notice your absence. They don't even know _where_ you are, so how can you be so sure that they'll come and rescue you?"

"They will" Ratchet snapped, a second servo started stroking his chestplates almost like a caress. "But I'm sure they'll be more discreet, not like a brute oaf like you." Megatron chuckled again, now grinding his hot pelvic plating against the medic's hip. "Well, if you're so sure, why don't we do something while we wait?" Now his claws were pulling the seams of his panels, threatening to rip it off. "If you are good, I'll be soft and gentle. But if you don't..." he gave a teasing pull and Ratchet jerked front in reflex. "Well, you won't forget what I'm going to do to you. Now, open up."

Deciding that it'd be best to not get injured further more, Ratchet slid aside his panel, revealing his dry valve. It was no use on throwing a fit right now; who knew what Megatron will do to him while he's unconcious, and he couldn't risk on having his panel ripped off and left completely exposed, not with the other prisoners all around him.

Megatron hummed in triumph and slowly started massaging the delicate port with his palm, rubbing gently everything he could while trying not to cut or harm him with his claws. Ratchet shivered and stayed still, he knew what the warlord could do to him with a single swipe of his servo.

The Decepticon roughly pushed two claws inside him until he was knuckle-deep, Ratchet grunting at the sudden stretch and clamping his valve down in pure reflex. The warlord chuckled once more and started wriggling his digits around, looking for his nodes. "I have always prefered to have the lubricant building up while I work. It's better than having a wet and messy valve straight away." Ratchet winced with every stroke of those digits, feeling them stretching his walls uncomfortably as the sharp end brushed slightly his carrying chamber entrance.

Was he this deep already? If his fingers were like this, he didn't want to imagine what that monster spike will do to him! "And how is that of my concern?" Ratchet asked as he tried to remain as still as possible to avoid having his array split apart. "Just wanted to let you know so you don't protest later." Suddenly, Megatron's digits slid out from his _slightyl_ damp port, now using them to roll the medic onto his back on the hard stone floor.

Megatron crawled on top of him until his pelvic plating was near Ratchet's face, and with a quiet 'click' he slid his spike panel aside and let his half-hard cord spring out right in front of the Autobot's face. "I want you to get me ready." Ratchet grimaced and turned his helm to the side, not wanting to stare at that filthy cord more than he needed to. Megatron growled in annoyance and moved a little bit to the front, poking the medic's cheek with the tip.

"I _said_ , get me ready." Ratchet turned his helm slowly to meet that angry gaze, doing his best not to look at the spike looming over him. "If I touch your filthy spike will you finally leave me alone?" He tried to put the most stoic face he could, but deep inside he was terrified. Considering his weak state, he would probably be offlined. "Maybe, now get to work." Megatron's spike twitched, as if saying 'I don't have all day' to Ratchet.

The Autobot let out a shaky sigh and encircled a servo around the base, the other one gripping Megatron's hip just slightly to steady himself. He squeezed the thick base, and moved slowly upwards until his palm met the already-leaking tip. He slid his servo down, making sure to put the adequate pressure on the different hidden nodes all over the length. It's not like he really wanted to give the Decepticon some pleasure, but he just wanted it over.

Megatron shuddered and ex-vented while making a sound of approvement. He dimmed his optics, rocking his hips slowly in time with Ratchet's servo. "Faster, medic..." Even if he would hate himself for doing so, Ratchet complied. He started pumping the cord at a steady pace, cleaning the thick beads of pre-transfluid with his thumb every time he reached the head. Megatron's venting was slowly building up, soft groans and growls slipping from his vocalizer as his overload was building up.

Ratchet could feel the energy radiating from that frame, and he could tell the warlord was near the edge. He picked up once more the pace, sliding his now-sticky servo up and down almost desperately all over the length, watching the increasing amount of pre-transfluid gushing out of the little slit.

Megatron grunted lowly and bucked his hips front, going stiff as a stone and overloading all over Ratchet's face. The Autobot closed his optics when he felt the sudden rain of hot transfluid clinging to his plating, and he tried so hard not to purge his tanks. The warlord chuckled at the display before him, the Autobot all covered in his fluids. "I like how you look like this, all covered in my transfluid. I wonder how would Optimus react if he saw you like this."

"Oh for Primus' sake- LEAVE OPTIMUS ALONE!" Ratchet found himself suddenly barking at the warlord, pride and anger taking a step back in a single nano-klik as the ex-gladiator quickly moved his frame so he was laying on his side, gripped him from under his knee joint and pulled his leg upwards at a painful angle, displaying his still-dry valve.

"Don't you dare raise your voice to me, medic! You're my prisoner, no more than some common garbage waiting to be disposed!" Megatron roared at Ratchet, his optics burning a bright red in pure anger. The medic couldn't help but feel terribly scared, his blue optics widening and going completely stiff. "I'll show you what happens to anybot who dares to disrespect me" the warlord aligned his once again pressurized spike with Ratchet's entrance, and he flinched and shut his optics as he braced for the brutal frag he was going to get.

Megatron slid his whole length inside the Autobot with a sharp thrust of his hips, the blunt head pressing against the carrying chamber entrance even if it was the first thrust. Ratchet cried out in pain, the soft mesh of his inner walls ripping and bleeding energon due to the unprepared stretch. He didn't have any lubricant to help him, it was just the dry and hard thrusts of the too-big spike inside him and the possesive growls from the heavy warframe.

"Megatron, stop! You're going to rip my array apart!" Megatron humped the poor Autobot without mercy, every now and then muttering things like 'so tight', 'stupid medic' and 'feels good'. His valve was bleeding profusely, but at least the energon served as some much-needed lubricant. But it still didn't help for the stinging pain from the open cuts and the constant friction being put against them, making Ratchet howl and cry with each sharp thrust.

"You should have thought about that before disrespecting me, medic" The Decepticon dug his claws into Ratchet's leg as he readjusted his position, angling his spike so he could go even deeper. He slipped almost the whole length out, the tip barely staying in as he slammed his rod with all the force he had, making Ratchet's frame rock violently against the stone floor. The medic screamed with every thrust, pleading desperately for Megatron to stop. Thick blobs of energon were gushing out with every push of that massive spike, Megatron grunting and growling as his pace became erratic, his rod barely visible from the speed he was going with.

Ratchet felt the tip pounding painfully against his carrying chamber entrance, little by little breaking the seal and finally giving up with a harsh thrust, until Megatron finally overloaded with a triumphant roar and spilled his massive amounts of transfluid inside Ratchet's chamber.

The Autobot sobbed quietly, his legs were sore and his valve was burning from the rough treatment he just received. But the worst part was having Megatron's filthy nanities inside him, all mixed together with his own energon were making a sticky puddle below his aft.

His carrying chamber swirled shut when it was full of transfluid just by instinct, but Ratchet _loathed_ to have to keep those disgusting fluids trapped inside him, yet he couldn't do anything as it was his simple reproductive system trying to transform the transfluid into another frame, and it wouldn't open manually.

Megatron pulled out and used one of Ratchet's servos to wipe their combined fluids off his spike, retracting it behind his panel and finally standing up to stretch his backstrut. The Autobot didn't move, he didn't even close his legs, maybe because they hurt too much to do so he chuckled to himself. The ex-gladiator stepped out of the cell, locking the door behind him with a satisfactory smirk on his lip plates. "Recharge well, medic" He cooed before leaving him alone.  _At last._

And he even left Ratchet a memento from that encounter; the contractions made proof of that.

The Autobot covered his mouth to muffle a cry, the pain going intense with every nano-klik that passed. Even if he knew he mostly couldn't, he tried to make as little noise as possible. He didn't want to get some unwanted attention from the guards or even the rest of the prisoners.

He slid his valve cover aside, a generous rush of fluids already gushing out of his port and onto the stone floor beneath him. A notification flashed in his helm, telling him that his carrying chamber entrance was 75% dilated. He should start getting in position to start pushing.

With a lot of effort, Ratchet crawled to the darkest and furthest away from the door corner of his cell, so if anyone dared to get close he would be at least a bit safe, also it gave some privacy even if it was just thanks to the lack of light. He laid on the floor, his back resting flat and he propped his knees up, spreading them wide enough to give some room for the upcoming sparkling.

Another notification flashed alongside a painful contraction, his frame squirming in agony as he did his best to supress the grunt threatening to scape his vocalizer. He was 85% dilated. It was almost time.

He tried to remember the few deliveries he had assisted before, practicing the breathing exercises he never thought he would be doing. It did help a little though, it made him feel like he was in more control of the situtation. His hips wriggled slightly, the thick and hot fluids sliding down his aft and forming a puddle under him were getting quite uncomfortable.

Another notification, 90% dilated. Just a few more cycles and he would be ready to push. The medic tried to even his vents, making them as silent as possible as contraction after contraction hit him like any other pain he had experienced before. For a moment he wished he had been sparked a femme; they had slimmer frames and more flexible hips, allowing them to expand their birthing channel with far more ease.

A last ping to his helm and he knew he was ready. Ratchet vented in a great amount of air, bit down his servo and began pushing. Frag, it hurt! It hurt so much! But he couldn't put up a fuss right now, there was a sparkling inside him that had to come out before it suffocated inside his valve or he himself bled out. He vented heavily, little beads of energon welling up where his denta dug on his servo from the strength of the bite.

He kept pushing and pushing, feeling how his channel stretched even more painfully than when the warlord took him as the little protoform slid to the entrance. Even if he tried, Ratchet couldn't quiet down all of the noises he made. Every now and then he let out a short cry or a whimper, and he was sure his heavy vents and grunts could be heard all over the dungeon.

Thick drops of coolant were running down his face, his frame overheating and starting to get tired from the hard work he was doing. The Autobot let out a shaky sigh of relief when he felt the tiny helm press against his valve's entrance, knowing this torture would be over soon enough. He spread his legs wider and pushed harder, arching his back off the floor as the helm made it past his tight walls.

Ratchet didn't register when the rest of the little one's frame slid out of him, the burn and soreness from the helm seemed to make his equipment go numb. With a last push the sparkling was finally out, instantly weeping and waving its little limbs as it seeked for its carrier.

It was the most beautiful sound Ratchet had ever heard.

Even with his sore and tense frame, he managed to sit up and look at the newborn between his legs. He quickly subspaced a couple objects he had been allowed to keep, and he took his sparkling in his arms and carefully cut the feeding line no longer attached to himself, cleaned it up with a clean rag and finally wrapping it with a warming sheet. It had been given to him so he wouldn't be cold at night, obviously it was a low-quality one but his newborn needed it more than anything else.

Ratchet rocked the little sparkling in his arms with a smile, watching those tiny limbs swinging below him curiously as his creation calmed down. Carefully as he knew how, Ratchet opened the little one's chestplates to tell its gender and if it had a healthy spark. As soon as they slid apart, a bright blue spark bathed the cell with its light. He had given birth to a mech.

Cleaner fluid tears of joy started sliding down his cheeks as he closed his delicate plating. He examinated his son's frame; it was mostly shaped like his own, but had sharp details like his sire. Small external wings propped out of his back, and his colors were mostly white and silver with small hints of red. But now, it was the moment he had been dreading... Was he a Decepticon or Autobot frame?

The little sparkling whined and shifted in his place, curling his little servo in a handful of blanket as he slowly onlined his optics.

They were blue.

Ratchet first sighed and then chuckled in relief. So he was an Autobot! "Hello there, little one. I'm your carrier, Ratchet." The sparkling looked at him and mewled happily when his carrier smiled to him. He reached his arms towards him, as if asking for a hug. Ratchet felt more tears slide down his cheeks as he nuzzled his creation; no matter who the sire was, the little one had grown inside of him and he had taken care of him _alone_ , and it's not like he wouldn't be doing that from today until it was his time to travel to the Well of Allsparks.

"I'll call you Sunlit, for being my only source of happiness and light among all of the darkness I've been living in for the last five months. But you know what?" Ratchet cuddled Sunlit closer to him and rested his back on the wall. "Everything was worth it. If I hadn't spent here all of that time, I wouldn't have you in here."

Sunlit looked up at his carrier with wide optics, suckling his thumb as the medic began humming and old lullaby, slowly drifting his son and himself into a deep recharge from the exhaustion.

A few cycles later after his sparkling fell into recharge, Ratchet did as well. He curled into a ball with his creation in the gap between his legs and his chest on a secluded corner of the cell, wishing he was in the base with his fellow Autobots to give little Sunlit a proper welcome, but instead he got to give birth in a cold and dirty cell, all alone, while trying to be as discreet as possible.

But he was sure he wouldn't let _anything_ happen to Sunlit.  _Anything._

* * *

Steve walked silently across the dark halls of the Nemesis' dungeon. Apparently everyone was in deep recharge at this time at night, even if it was relatively early. The Earth time showed it was 1 am.

A thick scent of energon and lubricant reached to his sensors; at first he thought his Leader was taking someone forcefully again, so he paid no mind and kept walking. But with each step he took the scent became stronger and stronger, until he noticed the dungeon didn't reek of interface, it was something else, but he wasn't sure what. The lubricant he smelled was different from the scent of lubricant produced by arousal.

The Vehicon let his olfact sensors be his guide and followed the scent, finally stopping right in front of Ratchet's cell. He tilted his helm in confusion and entered the code to open the celldoor, silently stepping inside and peeking at the Autobot captive's curled frame. At first he saw his valve was exposed, drying energon and lubricant very visible. Ah, so this mech was the one with that interesting smell. But as he thought before, he didn't smell like interface.

Steve gave a tiny step forward and saw the tiny sparkling held in his arms, the little creature venting softly in recharge. His spark (if he ever had one) skipped a beat, and quickly comm. linked another of his Vehicon comrades for backup. He sincerely didn't know what to do! The sparkling wasn't here yesterday, so... That meant...

[Hey, someone come to the Autobot's cell with me. It's urgent.]

In less than five cycles, two more Vehicons were standing beside Steve. The three of them peeked over the recharging red and white frame and froze in horror at the sight of the little creature.

"Should we tell Lord Megatron?"


	2. Two Sparks Became One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! Woo-hoo!
> 
> By the way, I want to thank you for all your support so far with this and my other stories :3 You're awesome!
> 
> Hope you like it!  
> -Rolling_girl27

"Nah, he's probably recharging by now. Let's wait until the morning."

Finally one of the Vehicons broke the silence and turned around, pacing out of the cell followed by the second one. Steve was left in there, staring at the recharging sparkling and its respective carrier. Something about the little one made him nervous...

Its frame had the same shade of grey as his Master's, plus the sharp edges of his wings, pedes, and sharp claws resembled the ex-gladiator as well. It looked so familiar...

Could it be?

No, he shook his helm. Why would his leader want to breed with an Autobot scum? And considering the war they were currently in, he highly doubted he would wish for an heir during these hard times. And it's not like Megatron was the fatherly-type of mech.

In the end he shrugged and left the Autobot and his creation alone. His comrades were right, better to wait until morning when his leader would be wide awake and in a better mood to deal with things like this rather than waking him up in the middle of the night for something he didn't care about.  _Maybe._

The most possible thing he'd do is deactivate the little thing, he guessed, but if he had his CNA that meant it was _his_ creation, and as far as he knew, the tyrant always claimed what was his.

Meh, he'd have to discuss it with him directly.

* * *

Soft mewling and chirping woke him up from recharge. His old joints ached and his frame felt as stiff as a stone from recharging on the hard stone floor.

Ratchet onlined his optics, analyzing the place he was in quickly. Ah yes, he was still prisoner of the Decepticons. The small sunrays that entered inbetween the bars from the tiny window made him aware that it was already morning on Earth.

He lowered his gaze and met Sunlit's, who was already wide awake and wriggling to get free from his Carrier's grasp and begin to explore. Ratchet chuckled as he sat up, carefully mechandling his sparkling so he was carrying him on his arms, helm pressed on his chestplates.

"Good morning, Sunlit" he cooed, something he never thought he'd be doing, until the little one arrived. "Did you recharge well?" The little flier chirped happily and smiled to the medic, little arms shooting up asking for a hug. Ratchet couldn't resist, he brought Sunlit closer to his helm and pressed their forehelms together.

The young mech pressed his forehelm back, tiny servos messing with his face and cheeks as he mewled happily, spark recognizing his carrier just from being this close. Ratchet could feel it too, his spark had already strengthened the bond with his creation and made his spark twirl with joy. "I'm glad to know it. Your old Carrier is no longer in shape for this things" he said playfully as he moved Sunlit back to his chestplates.

After he was in his previous position, Sunlit began pawing and scratching Ratchet's chestplates, clearly looking for something. "What are you doing, little one?" Ratchet asked as he gently pulled away those curious arms from his frame, helm tilting in confusion when his sparkling quickly grabbed one of his digits and started suckling it hungrily.

Oh. His sparkling was hungry. That's why he was touching his faceplates before; he was looking for his pouches to get some energon. The Autobot blushed a little at the thought, it had been many stellar-cycles ago since he last used his feeding pouches, maybe before or during the war, when many sparklings would be left orphaned or their Carrier died while giving birth and he had to feed them until a nurse came to do the job.

He looked around to see if there weren't any other curious optics, and he carefully moved to the secluded corner where he gave birth last night, well hidden by darkness. He tried to get himself comfortable against the brick wall behind him, shifting Sunlit in his arms as well to make him comfortable.

The little flier shifted a little too until he was resting his helm on Ratchet's arm at a comfortable angle to refuel. He clenched and released his little fists in excitement and a little impatience; he wasn't fed last night and his delicate tanks were rumbling with great hunger.

Ratchet took a deep vent and released the command to open his chestplates, his soft rubbery puches slowly filling up with enriched and processed energon, the first fuel a sparkling had to intake before its tank could process other kinds of energon. Sunlit stared at his Carrier's feeding pouches with his wide blue optics, licking his lips a little when they were almost full and a bright pink drop leaking from one of the engorged nubs.

It was _very_  uncomfortable to Ratchet, who was blushing like mad and tried to look away, but he didn't. He thought it was selfish and mean to turn his helm from his sparkling while he fed him. He knew it was completely natural, but doing this in a cell where anybot could walk by and probably see him made him nervous.

After a couple of cycles he received a ping on his helm, telling him that his pouches were ready. Ratchet sighed, pulling his sparkling up so he could comfortably suck his nubs. "Go on Sunlit, enjoy your meal." Sunlit le out a happy squeak and quickly encircled his lips around one of Ratchet's nubs, suckling on it gently as sweet processed energon flooded his little intake.

The medic suddered at the feeling. It had been too long. Anyways, he rested his helm on the wall behind him and shuttered his optics, trying to enjoy the feeling of having somebot sucking at his nubs.

Meanwhile, Sunlit kept his optics open, looking at his Carrier's expressions and unconciously wrapping his servo on one of his thick digits. The older mech reacted to the action, straightening up and looking down at his creation, meeting his blue optics once again as his tiny intake worked on his pouches.

They just looked at eachother in silence until Ratchet's first pouch was empty, straddling Sunlit so he could suck at the second one. The young frame kept suckling greedily, seeming to have no end to his hunger. "Easy there, little one" Ratchet said when the energon started flowing too fast into Sunlit's intake.

More cycles later Sunlit was finished, Ratchet's pouches empty and Sunlit's tanks full, releasing his carriers nub with an audible 'pop' and licking his lips, chirping loudly to his carrier in satisfaction. "Wow, were you really that hungry?" Ratchet chuckled as he closed his chestplates.

Well, considering his Sire's size, the sparkling was a big frame. He must have bigger fuel tanks as well. Sunlit wriggled and let out a 'burp', making Ratchet turn to look at him in surprise. "Oh my, remind me to teach you some manners when you grow up, mister" the Autobot said playfully as his creation giggled, then turning his helm to nuzzle the other's white chestplates.

Ratchet felt very proud of his son. He'd take him out of this prison, and he'd raise him in a good place where he could grow up and live a healthy childhood. But here was something he needed to think about, too...

Would Megatron let him keep his creation?

He _had_ to, it doesn't matter what Ratchet had to go through, he would make sure to stay together with him. If he had to work in a mine, attend injured Decepticons or even if he had to interface with Megatron again, then he'd do it. As long as Sunlit could stay with him, he'd do _anything_ he was asked for.

Well, almost anything.

A distressed chirp snapped him from his thoughts, looking down at his creation, he saw Sunlit with a worried expression on his young face. Oh, he had forgotten how strong the carrier-creation bond was. The little flier had surely felt his fear and was now concerned for his Carrier's feelings.

"Sorry to distress you, my dear" Ratchet apologized, pulling the warming sheet up so it covered his silver external wings. "You don't worry for anything now, Carrier is here to protect you." He brought the tiny frame up to his face and placed a gentle kiss on his helm, the sparkling squeaking lovingly and caressing the medic's cheeks with his tiny servos.

_Primus, help me and my son to get out of here_ Ratchet thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Don't forget to comment! ;) (Well, if you want to, of course)


	3. Claiming What is Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, my dear readers~!
> 
> The chapter which many of you have been requesting...
> 
> I really hope it is what you wanted to read (^-^)  
> -Rolling_girl27

The Decepticon leader was facing a computer in the Control Room, looking for energon locations or some possible Autobot activity nearby. To his left, a Vehicon was sitting in front of the control panel, and to his right, his loyal Communications Officer silently watching everything.

Suddenly, Steve and another Eradicon stepped into the Control Room, saluting respectfully even when their Master wasn't facing them. "Lord Megatron" they both greeted at the same time. "What do you want now?" Megatron growled lowly, barely turning his helm to the side to acknowledge the minions.

"There is something important that you need to see, my Lord." Steve said firmly, although deep inside he was terrified of what Megatron could do to him. What if it wasn't important to him? He _surely_  would beat the scrap out of him.

"I've got no time for another of your injured Eradicons. Just go seek someone else. Soundwave," the spymaster turned to look at the ex-gladiatior, helm tilting cutely yet elegantly. "Take these two out of my sight."

Soundwave gave a tiny nod and approached the two Eradicons, ready to scort them out. "No, wait my liege!" Said the second Eradicon while raising his arms in defense. "It's something about your Autobot captive!"

The CO stopped walking, turning his helm slowly to look at his Lord, who turned around to face the three mechs as well. After a couple of nano-kliks of silence, Megatron finally motioned them to keep talking.

The two Eradicons straightened themselves and cleared their vocalizer, Steve was the one to talk first. "Last night we found a sparkling in his cell. We hadn't seen it before, so we thought..." He trailed off, Megatron's optics widening just slightly. Pretty much he had got the idea.

"...and we thought you might want to give it a look" the other Eradicon finished, frame cringing slightly as he expected a blow or a slap across his faceplates.

Megatron seemed to analyze the situation a bit, silence filling the Control Room except for the steady clicking and whirring of the minions working on the computers.

"Soundwave, come with me. You take me to the Autobot's cell while you stay here and make sure no one distracts from their work." He finally stated, Steve leading the ex-gladiator and the spymaster out of the room and to the Nemesis' dungeon, the other Eradicon saluting and stepping further inside.

* * *

Ratchet was playing with Sunlit, tickling the little one's belly and ripping giggles and happy chirps from him. At the same time, the sparkling bit his Carrier's digits every time he could, but considering his lack of denta it didn't hurt.

Sunlit was chewing on Ratchet's pointer finger when heavy pedesteps echoed through the hall. The Autobot immediately snapped his helm upwards, spark beating faster and faster as the loud noise seemed to get closer and closer.

He curled even tighter on his dark corner, keeping Sunlit occupied so the young mech wouldn't make any sound that might drag some attention. His blue optics dimmed in fear, trying to be as discreet as possible.

The pedesteps were now in front of his cell, and to his dismay, they stopped there. He could see an Eradicon, Megatron and Soundwave all looking for him around the cell, the lack of light so helpful right now.

Steve entered the code to unlock the celldoor, allowing the impressive warframe and the slimmer one inside. He locked the door behind him and directly went to Ratchet, pointing a gun at him. "Come, Autobot."

Ratchet's spark was thumping in fear, hesitating at first but in the end he crawled forward, covering as much of Sunlit's frame as he could with the blanket and pressing him against his faceplates, just in case they decided to attack and he needed to protect him.

Megatron stared at him with a vicious glare, his boiling optics trailing the Autobot's frame until they reached the thing pressed on his chestplates. "What is it that you hold so close to you, medic?" His raspy voice echoing in the silence of the dungeon.

"Nothing you care about." Ratchet snapped back, shifting his grip on the tiny frame curled up against him and covering him with both arms. Megatron didn't say anything, he just huffed in mild annoyance and kept staring at the red and white mech.

"Where did you get that sparkling?" Ratchet's optics widened. _How did he know_?

"Don't you remeber, Megatron?" His voice was shaky, dread blurrying his processor a little. "The same day when you captured me, you came and gave me a _warm welcome_." He spit the last two words with plain sarcasm. The Decepticon leader let out a low growl, which seemed to rumble on the floor all the way up to Ratchet's frame.

"And I believe the _scum_ you're holding is my spawn."

"He's not a scum" Ratchet barked, baring his denta and moving an inch backwards. "And he certainly isn't your spawn, he's my son. You never bothered to take care of him during all this time, so why should he be _yours_?" It's not like he actually wanted Megatron to care about the sparkling, but he wanted to make clear Sunlit wasn't his property.

"Because without _me_ that despicable creature wouldn't be in your arms." The ex-gladiator's tone was still dangerous, yet it started to gleam with a hint of interest. "Now, let me se it before I take it from you and examine it myself."

Ratchet ignored the other's request, but when Steve started charging his gun up he was left without another option. With a sigh, he separated Sunlit from his chestplates, twisting him carefully so the warlord had a good look at his faceplates and a small part of his upper body, the rest still covered by the blanket.  
  
Megatron took a step closer, bending over a few inches to look closer at the Sparkling's features. He had mostly the shape of its Carrier's helm, though it was lacking of his long eyebrows. Its shoulders were sharp and pointed like his, as well as its pedes. Its frame was a beautiful shade of white and silver, with a few red details on its external wings, servos, legs, and chestplates. Bright blue optics stared wide into his crimson ones.

The ex-gladiator let out a dangerous snarl when he saw the color of the sparkling's optics, and Ratchet pulled Sunlit back against his chestplates and covered him with his arms in defense. Clearly Megatron wasn't pleased.

"He's an Autobot." Megatron's optics were still locked on the sparkling wriggling under the blanket, his face scrunched in a disgusted grimace. "At least you won't have to deal with him in your army" Ratchet said in defense, backstrut tensing and ready to fight.

The two mechs just stared at each other for a couple of cycles, the silence in the dungeon almost suffocating. Soundwave just stood there, as quiet as he was always, while Steve kept pointing his gun at the medic and his creation.

"Soundwave" Megatron finally snapped out of the silence, "please look after the sparkling for a while. I have some bussiness to attend with the Autobot." The black and purple mech nodded and walked forward towards Ratchet, claws slowly reaching for Sunlit.

"No! Stay away from him!" Ratchet twisted his body and scrambled backwards into the cell, protecting Sunlit as much as he could. Soundwave froze on his spot, showing his empty servos to tell Ratchet he was no threat. His visor projected something, and the medic realized it was a photo of his creation. After the image faded, another symbol was projected:

[ <3 ]

Megatron was busy talking to Steve, so he didn't notice what the Communications Officer was doing. Ratchet just stared at Soundwave, confused. What did he really mean? The Decepticon seemed to understand Ratchet's confusion, so after a couple nano-kliks of silence he replayed something he recorded from Knock Out a long time ago, when he was still on the Decepticon cause.

" _I love sparklings! They're so cute and innocent. I wish I could have one of my own..._ " After the recording ended, his visor repeated the symbol he projected before: [ <3 ].

Ratchet was stunned. Could he really trust this mech? Well, considering he stopped walking when he said so, and his creation's picture followed by a little heart on his visor, plus the recording... This mech was usually _very_  quiet, he didn't say a word unless it was something he recorded and if it was entirely necessary.

Maybe it wasn't so dangerous to leave little Sunlit with the spymaster. And anyways, the furthest away he could keep his creation from Megatron, the better.

Ratchet pulled Sunlit a little away from his chest, looking right into his optics. The sparkling chirped happily and stretched his little arms, asking his loving carrier for a hug. "Everything will be alright, Sunlit. Soundwave will take care of you." With a half-broken spark, he gave his creation a hug and placed him carefully on Soundwave's servos, who immediately set a firm but gentle grip as to not let him fall.

The black mech pulled Sunlit closer to him, readjusting the blanket so it was covering his little frame efficiently. The sparkling started whimpering and sobbing when he noticed he wasn't in his Carrier's arms, the other's sparkbeat different from the one he was used to and he felt scared. Soundwave rocked him gently, chirping happy noises to him before replaying what he recorded nano-kliks ago:

" _Everything will be alright, Sunlit. Soundwave will take care of you._ "

Sunlit almost immediately stopped crying, looking up at the spymaster with a confused gaze. He recognized his Carrier's voice, although this wasn't his frame... Soundwave chirped him a few other cute noises and the little one finally smiled, pressing his faceplates against the Decepticon's chest and chirping happily.

Ratchet watched how his son and the Communications Officer interacted, feeling better now that he knew Megatron's most loyal follower wouldn't hurt his creation. Soundwave turned to look at him, nodding slightly to reassure Sunlit was in good servos before walking out of the dungeon, carrying the half-recharging sparkling just like his Carrier had done before, one servo holding his little helm and the other one holding his back.

Megatron bent over Ratchet, gripping his chin with a clawed servo, turning his helm so they were optic to optic. "My, it looks like our medic is slightly _dirty_ , isn't he? Maybe we should do something about that..." A wide grin crossed his faceplates, showing his sharp denta to the scared -yet defiant- medic.

"I don't require _anything_  from you, Megatron" Ratchet yanked his helm off the warlord's servo turning to look at other side of his lonely cell. "If you behave well and do as I say, maybe I'll provide you with quarters of your own so you can look after our sparkling, give you enough refuel everyday and make sure our creation is completely safe."

Before he could snap anything back at the ex-gladiator, Ratchet weighed his options. Keeping Sunlit safe was his priority, so he could play Megatron's wicked game if he really promised everything he said. If he played submissive, maybe he wouldn't keep an optic on him 24/7, thus increasing the chances if planning an escape. He was sure the Nemesis was still on Earth, so he knew where to go.

...unless his team had moved to a different base to avoid further 'accidents' like the one that happened five months ago.

Megatron extended a servo to help the medic up, which Ratchet just stared at it for a while before finally giving up. "Fine. But you have to give me your word" the wicked grin on the other's lips was the worst Racthet had ever seen. "When do I ever break a promise, dear Ratchet?"

* * *

Megatron and some Vehicons led the Autobot to his private quarters, and he was surptised at what he saw. There weren't a lot of decorations, but it looked elegant nevertheless. Shades of grey and purple decorated the furniture; a large desk situated on the left of the room, a big couch and two smaller ones (like a living room) in the middle, a purple door on the far corner to the right that probably were his private wash racks, and another door in front of the living room that had to be the berthroom.

"Leave" Megatron growled, gripping one of Ratchet's arm while using his free servos to motion to the Eradicons at the door. "I will deal with him alone." Steve and the two other soldiers saluted before turning their backs and closing the door to Megatron's quarters.

The warlord immediately dragged Ratchet towards the door in the far corner of the room, turning the lights on and showing the luxurious wash racks. There was a shower with fancy crystal walls, big enough for two 'bots like him, a shelf full of different cleaning oils and solvents as well as soft cleaning rags, four drying towels hanging from an elegantly sculpted metal bar and a huge tub with more solvents and cleaning rags resting on the edge.

Megatron closed the door once they were inside and left Ratchet there, admiring the room with stunned optics as he moved to the large tub, turning the faucet that slowly filled it with a high-quality oil bath.

Once the water was two inches below the top, Megatron cut the oil passage. He tested the temperature to find it was warm, maybe a little hot. He shook his servo to get the excess oil off and motioned to Ratchet to come over. "Come here, medic."

"I don't understand why would you want to share your expensive solvents with someone like me." The medic didn't move an inch, he just stood there, glaring at the warlord. "Who I share my posessions with is none of your concern. Now come." He gestured once more to him, now a dangerous look on his optics.

Ratchet ex-vented and forced himself to walk closer. Megatron gave a pleased hum, and before the other mech could register, he took Ratchet by the waist and eased him into the tub, earning a surprised gasp.

After the Autobot was settled in the tub, Megatron entered as well, sloshing the oil a bit until he was next to his 'companion'. Ratchet was blushing like mad, he had never shared wash racks with anyone else!

Megatron chuckled and grabbed a bottle of solvent and a cleaning rag, spurting a small amount on it and proceeding to start scrubbing the medic's frame. Ratchet yelped in surprise and tried to pull away, but Megatron caught him quickly. They didn't talk for a while, Ratchet just tried to be as still as possible and let himself be cleaned, while Megatron just scrubbed his red and white frame while humming a happy tune.

It was... awkward.

He started shaking a bit when clawed servos reached his waist, then his hips, cleaning them as he teasingly dipped his claws under the plating and scratching sensitive wires. He gritted his denta to try and muffle the little whimpers that threatened to escape him, and in some way he succeeded.

The Decepticon leader's servos traveled lower, until they found his closed interface panel and his fluid-stained thighs. His engines rumbled and he purred into Ratchet's audio, rubbing his panel with the rag and nipping his neck cables a little. The medic blushed even harder, spark racing fast at what was going to come.

Megatron kept his molestation until he finished cleaning Ratchet's frame, kissing his neck and groping him while his other servo scrubbed the dirty parts. Once he was done, he lifted Ratchet by the waist (again) and moved under him, finally sitting him on his lap.

The ex-gladiator groped and squeezed his aft and his intake still nibbled and sucked at his neck, all the while cleaning his own frame. It surprised Ratchet how could he concentrate on grooming himself while molesting someone else. And he prefered not to know how.

Ratchet tensed when he heard the 'click' of a panel opening, Megatron's half-pressurized spike emerging into the warm oil bath. The warlord chuckled when scared blue optics wouldn't stop staring at his girth. "Do you want me to shove it inside you?"

Ratchet shook his helm from side to side. "Primus, no, Megatron. Please don't do this again." Megatron chuckled again and began pumping his spike to full erection with the rag, as an excuse to arouse him more than he already was. Finally placing the rag aside, he started pawing at Ratchet's valve panel. "Open."

"No! No, I don't want this! Please, let me work with your soldiers! Anything but this!" He found himself suddenly begging for mercy, something he shouldn't be doing. At least not when Sunlit's life was in game. "Come on, if you could take it once, how is this time going to be different? Now, open for me or I'll have to rip them myself."

Sobbing in defeat, Ratchet slid his panel aside, exposing his delicate and dry valve to the sick mech. Megatron let out a pleased purr, positioning Ratchet on top of him with his legs widely spread, pressing his hips downwards so his hard rod rubbed the slit of his valve.

"Please, Megatron. I just gave birth last night!" Ratchet shuddered when he was lifted once more and the giant spike beneath him nudged his entrance. It had been much less than an entire day of giving birth and this brute already wanted to interface. "That is not my problem, medic."

Ratchet cried out painfully when he was impaled on the other's spike, scratching the tears and cuts Sunlit had caused on his way out. Although his valve was a bit looser due to the birth, Megatron's cord was still thick enough to fill him. "Hm... you're not as tight as I remember." Megatron mumbled, grinding his hips upwards and causing the medic to cry out again.

Ratchet was lifted almost all the way off the spike, only to be slammed back again. The bulbous tip constantly stabbed his delicate and still sore carrying chamber entrance, making cleaner fluid tears start bubbling on Ratchet's optics.

Megatron seemed to ignore the other's distress, for he just kept sliding the Autobot up and down his length and grunting every time the walls clenched, in fact enjoying the other's wails and pleas.

Ratchet screamed and cried in agony, his tanks churning with every thrust. Megatron was going too deep, not stopping until his aft made impact with the other's pelvic plating. This felt even worse than the first time he raped him, such a violent penetration could cause severe damage considering the state his reproductive system was in.

Megatron quickened his thrusts, slamming Ratchet's hips up and down violently almost like he was a personal and non-sentient interface toy. Ratchet couldn't take any more, his valve felt like it was going to be ripped away from his frame, the constant stinging from open cuts and the stabbing to his carrying chamber entrance clouding his processor with white-hot pain and warning messages.

After what felt like hours, he felt Megatron's spike swell inside him, and suddenly the warlord roared and pushed himself as deep as he could, spilling his hot load of transfluid and coating Ratchet's abused array.

Megatron was panting heavily, recovering from his post-overload bliss as Ratchet just stayed impaled on that massive cord, sobbing and crying as his valve clenched down and spasmed in pain.

Something told him this was going to happen very often...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vote Soundwave for the best sparklingsitter!
> 
> P.S. Sorry for the delay, my Internet was awfully slow :(


	4. Failed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, guys! You /really/ are desperate for a new chapter :P
> 
> Anyways, sorry to keep you waiting and enjoy.  
> -Rolling_girl27

Sunlit chirped worriedly at his Carrier, caressing the other's chestplates softly with his little servos. Ratchet was shifting uneasily in the room. After Megatron's latest assault, he was lead to another room, not as luxurious as the Decepticon leader's quarters but far more comfortable than the cell. His thighs were sore from the rough treatment and his valve felt like it was on fire. Not to mention that he could still feel the other's transfluid swirling inside him.

The little sparkling whimpered in distress, tiny tears already bubbling up in his optics. "Hush, little one. Everything is alright. Carrier is here to protect you." He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his forehelm, calming the sparkling down a little though not completely. Ratchet was rocking him against his frame, spark racing fast now that Megatron knew he had a new heir.

If the other's promises were true, he would have a nice room to recharge in as well as enough energon to feed himself and Sunlit, although interfacing with the ex-gladiator what he thought would be almost every night wasn't really that exciting. But if it kept him and his creation safe, he'd go with it.

The Autobot paced quickly through the room, making Sunlit bounce a little in his arms. The sparkling was whimpering in discomfort, worried by his Carrier's state as well as he was starting to feel dizzy from the constant movement. A loud mewl snapped Ratchet from his thoughts, and he looked down at his creation only to see his little optics narrowed in an annoyed, almost angry, expression.

The medic sighed and sat on the edge of the berth, readjusting the blanket around Sunlit's frame. It looks like Soundwave had the nice attention to change it for one of a better quality, which was softer than the one Sunlit was wrapped in right after birth. "I'm sorry, my dear. It wasn't my intention to stress you out so much. Your old Carrier is wondering how we are going to get out of here."

Sunlit gave a little squeak of sympathy and curled his frame against Ratchet's frame, nuzzling his cheek on his chestplates right above his spark, and Ratchet could feel the positive energy fields across the sparkling-carrier bond. It looked like his sparkling was trying to comfort him. "Thank you, little one. What would I do if you weren't here with me."

* * *

"And what are you _exactly_  planning to do with that sparkling, Lord Megatron?" His raspy voice echoed through the Control Room, which was currently occupied by Megatron, Soundwave, a couple of drones and himself. "I'm not entirely sure, Starscream. It could be a nice opportunity to blackmail the Autobots."

"Of course, my glorious leader. But are you aware of the responsibility it takes to raise one?" Starscream paced around the warlord, his optics gleaming with a hint of curiosity and a very vague one of concern. "I know. The Autobot will take care of him."

"Um, if you let me object, my liege, if you let the medic raise him without any contact with you, the sparkling may grow as an Autobot in spark. What if he leans more to their cause than ours?" Megatron turned to look at his Second in Command, considering what he haf just said. The jet just stood there, frozen, waiting for a strike across his faceplates.

"Maybe you're right, Starscream. But the bond has already been settled. I wasn't there during the carrying cycle to state myself as the Sire, thus making the sparkling unaware of my prescence. Separating him from the Autobot would most likely lead to depression and stress."

"So anything will work without the Autobot..." Starscream muttered to himself. "But Lord Megatron, the sparkling is too young. If the medic wasn't lying, it means that last night was when he gave birth, meaning that the sparkling isn't even a solar-cycle old. It might be the right time to separate him from the Carrier and start to raise him under your arms, to make him a loyal Decepticon when he reaches maturity." Steve, who was silently listening to the conversation, suddenly spoke, turning to face the three mechs from his seat in front of a computer.

The three mechs turned to look at him, all with curiosity in their optics. The room was silent for a couple of cycles, meaning that Megatron was actually considering the suggestion. "That's an interesting idea, lieutenant." The warlord paced calmly across the room, and Soundwave and Starscream turned to look at each other in confusion. "I just need that sparkling and the Autobots will be at my pedes; to show him that one of their mech's progeny is mine as well. That one of them was filthy enough to berth a Decepticon."

Everyone knew the Autobot had no desire to breed with him, but no one dared to mention it. Soundwave didn't like the idea even a bit, he had already grown fond of little Sunlit and the last thing he wanted was for him to be separated from his carrier. Even Starscream, as despicable as he was, didn't like the idea. Not that any of them objected.

"Yes... I really, _really_ like that idea." An evil grin appeared on his faceplates, such an ugly one that could make any other warrior flinch. "Soundwave," he turned to look at his Communications Officer, who straightened himself and tilted his helm to look at Megatron. "You and two other drones will do the job."

* * *

Ratchet had finally calmed down a little, cooing cute things to his sparkling all the while tickling him, making the little mech giggle and smile at his Carrier.

Suddenly the doors to 'his' quarters hissed open, a very well known black and purple mech walking in with graceful steps. Ratchet greeted him with a smile; he had already grown a hint of appreciation towards the other from the nice treatment he gave to Sunlit.

The slim mech bowed his helm slightly in apprehension, then turning to look at Sunlit and chirping a few sounds unknown to Ratchet. The sparkling chirped and clicked back before stretching his little arms towards the spymaster.

Soundwave stepped closer, looking up at Ratchet and tilting his helm to the side, projecting a [?] symbol on his visor. The medic chuckled slightly and nodded, handling the playful sparkling to the Decpeticon. Soudwave handled him with care, straddling him just as Ratchet had with his clawed servos.

He emmitted some distorted noises to his sparkling, making him giggle happily. They almost sound like Bumblebee's beeps and boops back when he didn't have his voicebox, a little hint of nostalgia bumping in his spark.

Ratchet silently watched the spymaster, until he suddenly sagged his shoulders, almost as if he was sad. It was very strange, he had never seen this mech express his emotions. Soundwave barely tilted himself towards the Autobot, playing another old recording from Knock Out as well.

[I'm so sorry.]

A group of Vehicons suddenly bolted into the room and startled Sunlit, who immediately started wailing. As soon as Ratchet stood up, two drones quickly cuffed his wrists and were already shoving him out of the room. Much to his surprise, Soundwave didn't do anything, he just avoided optic contact with the medic as he pressed his son against his chestplates protectively.

"What are you doing, you fraggers?! Release me in this instant!" Of course they didn't obey. They just kept pulling him harshly outside the room, as if he was being transfered somewhere else. Maybe Megatron wanted him again? No, why would he do this? He perfectly knew he had submitted and was too weak to put up a fight.

"Silence, Autobot." One of the Vehicons pressed an electric shock on Ratchet's side, making him cry out and fall to the floor. His carrier's pained scream only distressed Sunlit even more, wailing louder against Soundwave's grasp. "No! Sunlit! Give me back my son, before I-"

He was cut off with a hard kick to his helm. His frame jolted from the impact and he coughed some energon, trying to rise but another hard kick was delivered on one of his sides. Suddenly there were five Vehicons beating him, trying their best to knock him out or at least make  him less agressive.

After many cycles of violence, Ratchet was finally pulled to his pedes, left optic swollen almost shut, energon dribbling from a corner of his intake, several scratches and cuts all over his frame and dents everywhere. He couldn't do anything now, he was too weak and they had Sunlit.

"My son... I need him! Give him back to me!" He still demanded, although he wasn't fighting back anymore. The Vehicons pushed him into a type of elevator, but Ratchet registered very little in the state he was in. The drones didn't say anything during the almost-long trip, just pushing the Autobot slightly off balance when he struggled.

Finally the elevator stopped, and Ratchet was roughly shoved to the dusty ground. Ratchet's vision glitched from the hard impact to his helm, noticing how he was left there and the drones climbed back onto the elevator. Until that moment he realized what they were trying to do.

"No! Come back! Sunlit! I can't leave him!" He stumbled to get to his pedes, running towards the elevator, but it was too late. The Vehicons were almost at the top, and he could hear the roaring engines of the ship come to life. The elevator seemed to fold and adhere to the bottom of the ship, ready to take off at any moment.

Ratchet kept screaming and pleading them to come back, but obviously he wasn't heard or maybe the others didn't care. Either of the two options, the medic didn't give up. He ran into the ship's direction, but it all was useless. They had Sunlit with them and were already leaving.

The Nemesis flew away into the horizon, leaving poor Ratchet as a bleeding and weeping mess on the ground. They didn't even care to take off the cuffs, which made Ratchet's discomfort even bigger. But the physical pain wasn't what he cared about, he had lost his son and he didn't even try to protect him.

"Sunlit... my little Sunlit..." he kept muttering between sobs, sour tears running down his cheeks and onto the ground where he was laying.

He had been given a _single_ task, and he couldn't fulfill it.

* * *

"I am receiving some signals of Cybertronian life not far from here." Knock Out turned from the computer to face his team, proudly wearing an Autobrand on his crimson chest.

Everyone in the base looked puzzled. Cybertronian life? Now? And it suddenly just appeared out of thin air?

"What are the coordinates?" Optimus asked, tilting his helm and taking a step closer to the ex-Decepticon. "65:27 to the South, and 23:45 to the East."

The team leader nodded and turned around, walking towards the base entrance. "I'll go and investigate. Knock Out, be aware if there are any new signals. Smokescreen, come with me." The blue and yellow rookie supressed a squeal of excitement, just pulling a smile to his face and saluting. "As you say, boss!" He paced quickly so he was beside the Prime, then both changed to their vehicle modes and drove out of the base.

"Do you think it is...?" Arcee asked once the two mechs were outside, her blue optics blinking in confusion. Bulkhead sighed. "I don't know. I guess we can just hope for the best..."

* * *

Both Prime and Smokescreen were getting closer to their destination. They changed to their alt modes when they saw a glimpse of red and white armour, lonely laying on the ground.

They both approached carefully, and Smokescreen gasped loudly when it was, indeed, their lost teammate Ratchet. "R-Ratchet?" He muttered. "B-but I though he was long offlined!"

Prime didn't answer and walked closer to the injured medic, carefully. "Ratchet? Ratchet, it's me." The medic seemed to be lost in his thoughts, constantly muttering something like 'Sunlit' and 'unforgivable'. He placed a silver servo on the other's shoulder, immediately noticing the several wounds in his frame.

"Ratchet... Answer me, old friend." He gently pulled the frame towards him so he laid on his back, hurt blue optics trailing over his frame until they met Autobot features. "O-Optimus...?" He whispered before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Just so you don't get confused, Smokescreen and Bumblebee have their new paintjobs in here, Bumblebee can talk and Knock Out is a former part of the Autobots in this story ;)


	5. The Past Behind Your Optics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! Yaaaaaaay
> 
> Sorry to keep you waiting for so long, I've been having trouble with all of this school-stuff plus I got stuck with my 'Under the Beast's Claws' work.
> 
> Aaaand I'm happy to announce I've got a new TFP story coming up!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Rolling_girl27

Everyone was stunned to see their leader and the wanna-be Prime enter the Autobot base carrying and unconcious and injured medic on their arms. "Ratchet!" Everyone cried out and got closer to help.

"Please help me get him to a medical berth. Knock Out, prepare the computers to scan Ratchet." The red sports model nodded and turned to face his medical equipment, or better said Ratchet's equipment that he had borrowed since he wasn't in the base. Bumblebee and Bulkhead took the unconcious frame off of Optimus' and Smokescreen's shoulders and carefully stumbled to place him where they had been asked to. After all, Ratchet wasn't a light weight.

The computer took barely 5 minutes to be ready, and when it pinged, Knock Out immediately retrieved a cable from the desk and used a medical override to open Ratchet's medical port, plugging the cable in. He quickly moved to analize the other's firewalls, and sighed in relief when he didn't find any complications so far. "At least he hasn't been infected with a virus." He mused out loud for everyone to hear.

All the other Autobots were staring in horror, the wounds and dents all over their friend's frame wasn't a very nice sight. "H-how did you find him?" Bumblebee dared to ask. "We found them in the middle of the road, lying helplessly on the floor. He kept muttering some words over and ovet, though their meaning it's not of my knowledge. I approached him so he could recognize me, but he fainted once he did." Optimus answered with his deep voice.

"I understood something like 'sunlit' and 'unforgettable', or something like that" Smokescreen added. While the rest of the crew kept chattering between them, Knock Out started a full-frame scan in his computer to check his ally's internal organs, moving to the berth to examine the superficial damage while the scan was completed. The Aston Martin grimaced at the several wounds, they reminded him of some 'bots he had seen Megatron take his fury out on. Starscream was a frequent visitor to his med bay.

"Judging by the size and shape of the dents, it looks like our friend here has been beaten." Everyone gasped loudly. "Although they are quite peculiar... It doesn't look like they had been done with some time of weapon, no... It's more as if they were done with bare servos." Knock Out tapped his chin with clawed digits. "But anyways, the wounds aren't severe. Just give me a couple of cycles and he'll be as good as new." He gave a reassuring smile to the scared Autobots and move to a cabinet where Ratchet kept his tools, taking what he needed he closed the door and returned to the berth.

He started with his face, cleaning the cuts and dents carefully and then patching them up. He took a small towel and dipped it in warm solvent, placing it on top of his damage optic to help ease the swell. When he was done he moved down to his chest, then his abdomen, then his legs. He was fixing his left thigh when the computer pinged.

Everyone stiffened and turned to the computer, walking closer to get a good look at the results. Knock Out did the same, although he was right in front of it and he was the one in control. "Are you ready, 'bots?" He said out loud, waiting for everyone to agree before starting to read out-loud the scan results.

"Well... Vocalizer, in stable condition. Spark chamber... Unstable, due to an extreme amount of stress. But don't worry, it's on the parameters; we just need to have a talk with him to calm him down. Alright, vents... in stable condition, no perforations or any damage. Fuel tanks... Stable, although it looks like he hasn't been consuming good-quality energon. Carrying chamber..." Knock Out gasped loudly, optics wide at what the screen was projecting. "What is it, Knock Out?" Optimus' voice rumbled on the room, calm but it clearly showed a hint of worry.

The ex-Decepticon turned around, his surprised expression locked on his faceplates. "There... there aren't any traces of the protective gel inside it... plus his reproductive hormones seem to be slightly unstable. A-and the feeding protocols have activated on his frame..." he stuttered a lot, but that didn't seem to explain his worry very well. "And that means...?" Arcee asked, raising an optic-ridge up and tilting her helm to the side.

"It means that... Ratchet gave birth not too long ago" Everyone gasped again, optics going wide as plates in horror and surprise. Knock Out quickly stumbled from to computer to the berth, using override codes to slide the injured medic's valve cover aside, and he quickly- but carefully- stuck two of his digits inside, feeling around for a while before he found several cuts on the inner walls. Very few were the ones he could recognize as a normal part of the birthing process, but there were others that had been done by a completely different reason. "But it isn't just that..." he slid his fingers out, widening his optics when he saw they were coated with transfluid and faint traces of energon.

"It looks like someone interfaced with him by force too..." Arcee and the two scouts gasped loudly, Bulkhead grimaced and lowered his helm in pity while Optimus narrowed his optics, fists shaking in pure rage. What kind of _disgusting_ creature dared to rape his friend?

"W-wait... But isn't a mech supposed to recover for a couple of deca-cycles after giving birth before he can interface again?" Smokescreen asked, his voice shaking a little. "Naturally," Knock Out said while wiping his digits with a cloth. "But this 'bot didn't seem to care about that..."

"Well, we all need to calm down" Optimus spoke after a couple of cycles of silence. "Ratchet will wake up soon enough, and I'm sure he will need all the comfort we can provide him with. If he sees we're calm, he'll be calm as well. And please, " he turned to look at the two scouts. "Refrain from bothering him too much." The young mechs nodded once and glanced at the berth.

* * *

Everything was fuzzy around him. His frame felt unsually stiff and heavy, but at least it didn't hurt as much as before. He grasped the surface underneath him, something comfortable, and what was this resting on top of him? It was warm and soft, was it a... Warming sheet? No, why would Megatron give him that? Maybe it was Soundwave. Hmm... he couldn't feel Sunlit anywhere near. Perhaps the spymaster is sparklingsitting him.

Ratchet onlined his optics with a grunt, lifting a servo over his face to protect them from the bright light above him. But if this isn't the Nemesis... Where was he?

After rebooting his optics two and even three times, he got used to the brightness all around him and with that, reality came crashing over him like a meteor. He tried to sit up in a nano-klik, but a sharp pain on his side refrained him form doing any violent movements. He hissed and instead moved slower until he was comfortably sitting up.

"Well, well, well... Welcome back to the land of the lucid, Ratchet!" Knock Out greeted, clapping his servos once and offering the medic a warm smile. "Ratchet..." the medic turned to look at the other side and met his best friend's optics, handsome silver features smiling to him. "Optimus... W-where am I? This must be a bad memory flux..." he mused, rubbing his helm.

Optimus got closer and carefully took Ratchet's servo in his own. "No, my old friend. You're at the base. You're safe now." He stroked it gently, trying to soothe him in case he started to panic. "How... how long have I been out?" Th medic asked, lifting his helm to meet those forgiving optics once more. "A solar-cycle and a half."

Before he could say anything else, Bumblebee and Smokescreen sneaked into the secluded room where the medic was kept, their doorwings perking upwards with happiness. "Ratchet! You're back!" They both said out loud. Each one got to either side of the berth and carefully hugged him, making Ratchet feel a little embarassed but somehow better. He didn't get this kind of affection back at the Nemesis.

"Hello, younglings..." he said warmly, his spark fluttering with joy. It felt good to be back. Arcee and Bulkhead stepped inside as well, and cycles later the three children were visiting him. Usually he would have shooed them away, but this was a different moment. He'd never admit it, but he had missed them as well. "Grandpa, were did you go? We thought we'd never see you again!" Miko greeted, encircling her arms around one of Ratchet's servos.

"Hello, everyone. I missed you all like you've got no idea." Ratchet said, hugging the 'bots that were closer to him tightly. "Aw, we all missed you too." Said Bulkhead. "Yeah but, what happened? Where were you? We were so worried about you!" Jack said, looking up at the medic, who struggled for an answer. The rest of the Autobots shared uneasy looks with eachother. "Kids, why don't you let this old medic come properly back to his senses before asking him for a story?" Bulkhead helped the three down and guided them to their 'room', a special place him and Bumblebee designed so they could hang out and have something to do if the rest of the team was busy or couldn't look after them.

Optimus waited until the children were gone and Bulkhead was back before asking, "Ratchet, what happened to you?" Everyone gathered around the berth in a semi-circle, to give the medic some space for himself as well to have a chance to hear everything.

"I... I was captured by the Decepticons." Ratchet started. "After all of you were out of the base I was left alone, and I heard a very loud noise coming from one of the walls, and suddenly there were many drones shooting all over the place!" He shot his servos up in a dramatic way. "I tried to escape, but I was too slow and too weak. Maybe five or six cornered me, and they started to beat me into submission. I couldn't do anything, my vision was blurry and they had already cuffed me. I didn't recognize my surroundings when they took me to the Nemesis. I only registered my location when I was already in. I tried to contact you as well, but the drones deactivated my comm. link."

Ratchet remained in silence for a long moment. That was supposed to be the end of the story, but everyone knew it wasn't true. There was more behind those optics that the medic didn't dare to say out loud. "Ratchet, my old friend..." Optimus walked closer and took Ratchet's servo again, making him look at him in the optics. "We want to hear the full story. Please. I want to know how much damage those Decepticons did to you." Ratchet could already see that Optimus knew what happened. They had surely scanned him for injuries. There was no way of lying now.

"They locked me in a cell, and..." his voice was starting to shake a little. "That... That night Megatron decided to 'visit' me..." the first cleaner-fluid tear left his optics. "He forced me to interface with him..." After that sentence, he broke into sobs. He wailed in pure sorrow, his vents hitching and tears running freely down his cheeks, but no one dared to say anything. Optimus kept stroking his servo while Bumblebee came and rested his helm against the other's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Did he overload inside you?" Knock Out was ashamed to ask, but he needed to know in order to find out if he had been sparked up (which he clearly had been). Ratchet nodded. There weren't any more questions after that one, they kept quiet and waiting patiently for Ratchet to calm down before continuing.

"He... He managed to spark me up." The medic stated after long cycles of crying. "Then I was left to give birth on the same cell I was dumped in at the beggining" Everyone gasped in horror. How could that brute let a mech bring a sparkling to this world in a dirty cell?! "And I suppose your sparkling or sparklings survived, right?" Ratchet nodded again. Then, a smile appeared on his face when Sunlit came to his mind. "I had a little mech. His name is Sunlit, and he's an Autobot. He's so cute and bright..."

But his smile faded in an instant when he remembered his sparkling wasn't with him now. "But they took him away from me... They kept my Sunlit in the Nemesis... I tried to fight back, but the drones beat me again and then kicked me out, and that's the last thing I remeber before waking up in here, with you..."

All of the 'bots in the room were left with thoughtful expressions. "How many times did Megatron interface with you? Well, before Sunlit was born." Knock Out asked. "Just once."

The red mech was puzzled, tilting his helm to the side, his optics gleaming in confusion. "Then how did the sparkling survive the development? You know they need their Sire's transfluid in order to build their frame up..." Ratchet nodded, and a shiver assaulted his stiff frame. "The Eradicons. Usually they would take turns with me. I hesitated at first, because I wasn't so sure if I wanted my sparkling to be born in that ship, but in the end I let myself be used. I'd never forgive myself if I killed my own creation." Ratchet answered bitterly.

"And tell me, Ratchet..." Knock Out walked closer to him. "When did you give birth _exactly_?" The medic tried to recall the time in hours, but since his chronometer had been disabled as well, he could only answer, "Last night." There were loud gasps in the room again, and the red sports model narrowed his optics. "Did Megatron interface with you after the birth?" Ratchet nodded. "As I supposed..." Knock Out muttered to himself.

"I don't care what happens to me. I have been beaten, raped, and trapped like a mechanimal. But I want to ask something of you" Several pairs of blue optics and a pair of red ones turned to look at him. "Please, help me get my son back. I don't want to imagine what are they going to do to him with Megatron around. Please, I beg you, it's the only thing I'm going to ever ask of you."

Everyone seemed to hesitate for a bit, but in the end they all nodded. "Count on us, my old friend. Together we're going to get your son back, even if it's the last thing we do." said Optimus with a warm smile on his face.


	6. Loving Uncle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for short chapter :P
> 
> -Rolling_girl27

"What are we supposed to do now?!" Starscream screeched as he paced back and forth in the dark room, rubbing his temples with the tip of his digits in annoyance. Soundwave had Sunlit in his arms, rocking him in an attempt to lull him to recharge, but it was of no use. The little one hadn't stopped wailing since his Autobot carrier was kicked out of the ship.

"And that... _thing_  won't stop crying!" The seeker complained. Soundwave shot him an angry look, his energy fields flaring with indignation. The silver mech sighed. "Sorry, I'm not used to this type of things."

The spymaster was starting to get a little tired from Sunlit's cries, already two groons had passed and the sparkling hadn't stopped crying. Megatron hadn't wanted to hold it, leaving the innocent creature as Starscream's and Soundwave's job. They should have expected the warlord to refuse to take the role as a Sire.

"Ugh, stay here. I'm going to fetch an energon cube for him." Said Starscream as he started heading to the door, but Soundwave stopped him. He sent a couple of messages across the comm. link...

_*Sunlit is not able to refuel with mid-grade energon. He must intake specially processed energon from his carrier.*_

"Yes, I'm aware of that" the seeker snapped, "but if you haven't noticed, we haven't got any processed energon and his carrier isn't here." And even if they had wanted to, as far as they both knew none of the Decepticons on board had activated their energon pouches.

The only option left was to inject him a dose of mineral supplements, but Soundwave refused. He didn't want to push his adoptive nephew (as he called him) through too much pain. Being away from his carrier was already enough torture.

"What are we going to do, Soundwave?" The Air Commander let out a high-pitched whine, sitting down on a chair and hiding his face in his servos. The purple and black mech didn't answer, but soon he had an idea. He extended his energy fields to get Starscream's attention, and when he lifted his helm to look at him, Soundwave flashed the picture of an Eradicon on his visor.

The seeker's wings twitched upwards in curiosity, his helm tilted to the side. "Do you think... the Eradicons could provide that?" The spymaster sent another message across their comm. link.

_*Probabilities are very low.*_

Starscream sighed in desperation and slumped back in his chair, his wings twitching uneasily with nervousness and tiredness. The Communication's Officer looked down at the still-crying sparkling, his spark twitching in sadness and worry. If only he had activated his fuel lines...

Another idea reached his processor. He extended his fields again, gathering the silver mech's attention. Starscream turned his helm towards him, and Soundwave projected a picture of Shockwave on his visor. "Shockwave?!" Starscream laughed. "I pretty much belive that mech is out of the question, Soundwave. I can _hardly_  believe that he has an interface array, why would he have feeding pouches?"

Soundwave shook his helm from side to side calmly, and then pointed towards his chest. Starscream raised an optic ridge, not really understanding what the other mech tried to say.

_*Shockwave can activate my own lines.*_

Starscream's optics widened and his wings perked upwards, clearly surprised. "Are you sure? But why would you do that, anyways? He isn't your sparkling..."

_*But he is Lord Megatron's. Now, come.*_

His tone didn't let any other argument to be said, and the seeker followed Soundwave towards the control room for a ground bridge, the little sparkling's wailing echoing in the large corridors.

* * *

Shockwave straightened up and walked towards the two mechs walking out of the green energy portal. "Soundwave, Starscream. I didn't expect you to come here." He greeted them with his monotone voice, bowing his helm slightly.

Then his attention was directed towards the little object squirming on Soundwave's arms, a crying sparkling. His big red optic stuck on the little one. "If I may ask, why would you be carrying that sparkling in your arms? It is illogical to raise such a delicate creature in this war ship." He lifted his helm to meet the purple and black mech's visor.

_*He is Megatron's creation.*_

The scientist nodded slowly, a little puzzled but didn't question anything else, even when he saw his big blue optics. "What is your objective in here?"

"Soundwave would like to know if you can activate his feeding lines. We haven't got processed energon, his carrier isn't here and none of the Decepticons on this ship have their lines activated. And we don't want Megatron's heir to starve, do we?" Starscream said with a slight smirk.

"Of course. This way" Shockwave said plainly, leading the two mechs towards a table and two chairs. He motioned them to sit down, and then scrambled the contents of a large box nearby before taking out a small chip. He extended his servo, silently asking for Soundwave's arm. The spymaster gave the wailing sparkling to the seeker, who grimaced but didn't comment. Instead, he straddled the little thing in his lap and tried to rock him like Soundwave had been doing before.

The cyclops mech opened Soundwave's medical port on his wrist, carefully inserting the chip and waiting for the information to transfer correctly. None of the three mechs spoke, the only sound in the big lab being Sunlit's non-stop crying.

A few cycles later Shockwave unplugged the chip from the slim mech's wrist. "The process has been completed successfully." Soundwave closed his medical port and thanked him with a small nod, and then motioned to Starscream. The scientist understood and approached the seeker, extending his servo in the same way he had done before.

"What?! Oh no, I'm not doing that! I believe that Soundwave will be more than enough to take care of the new Decepticon heir." The seeker gave a worried smile and pressed his wings against the chair. "It would be most logical if you activated your own fuel lines," Shockwave started, his big red optic locked into Starscream's own pair. "you must understand that Soundwave will take time to replenish his own reservoirs, and your cooperation would be mostly welcome if you refueled the sparkling while Soundwave's process is complete."

Starscream looked at Soundwave and then at the sparkling, surprisingly watching his little distressed optics doing the trick. He huffed and then said, "Fine. But understand that I'm only doing this because he is Megatron's heir." The two other mechs didn't comment as Shockwave took Starscream's wrist and installed the coding, finally retrieving the chip after a couple of cycles.

The two mechs stood up from their seats and started heading towards the 'entrance', which was more like the little spot where they had come out of the ground bridge.

_*Thank you, Shockwave. You can be sure that Megatron and his creation will mostly appreciate your help.*_

The scientist bowed slightly. "It was nothing. Lord Megatron's heir must remain in perfect conditions." His voice was flat, but there was a small hint of advice and worry. Soundwave nodded in acknowledgement and stepped into the ground bridge along with Starscream.

* * *

"I can't believe you _forced_  me to do that!" Starscream complained when they reached Soundwave's quarters, throwing his arms up in the air.

_*Shockwave was right. I will need your help if I run out of my processed energon reservoirs.*_

"Well... but how am I going to do that, anyways?! I haven't nursed a single sparkling in my life!" The seeker crossed his arms and sat down in the couch in front of where Soundwave sat down, already positioning Sunlit to feed him.

_*Don't worry, you'll learn with time.*_

Decepticon's feeding puches were different from Autobots; their pouches were kept inside their frames and only the nubs were exposed, thus preventing any damaging of the delicate rubber plus they would fill faster than external pouches.

Sunlit's wailing subsided a little when he saw small sections of Soundwave's plating moving and readjusting, sliding aside to reveal two small rubbery nubs. The little sparkling stared at them and licked his little lips, his tanks already rumbling with hunger again.

_*First you need to learn to hold Sunlit. With one servo you support his lower back and with the other one you support his helm, placing it near your chest so he can have an easy access and refuel comfortably.*_

Starscream tried to look annoyed, but in reality he was dying with cuteness at the sight of the white and silver protoform clenching and unclenching his tiny fists, excited to be fed soon.

Soundwave received a message on his helm, making him aware that his pouches had filled and he was ready to nurse.

_*You should receive an internal message when your pouches are filled. Once you do, you have to gently pull Sunlit closer so he can reach the feeding nubs.*_

The spymaster reclined slightly on the couch and pulled Sunlit closer to his chest, and the little sparkling quickly caught the nearest nub with his intake and started suckling.

_*Finally, you just have to wait for him to finish. It is important that you remain calm and relaxed in order to not distress or interrupt him.*_

Starscream watched Sunlit with interest, the little one gulping energon eagerly as he stared into Soundwave's black visor, one of his servo's reaching for the spymaster's digits, like the first time his carrier fed him. He let the little one grab it, gently stroking his helm as he refueled.

Soundwave examined Sunlit's expressions. He clearly was feeling better now that he was being fed, although he wasn't so sure if he would stay calm later in the dark-cycle. He winced a little when Sunlit began nibbling, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he lightly brushed his cheek with the back of his servo.

Meanwhile, Sunlit was enjoying his 'uncle's' company as sweet energon was sliding down his small throat. It tasted different from his carrier's, but it didn't taste bad either. What was starting to get a little uncomfortable was having to press his little face directly against the other's chest; it wasn't soft like his carrier's own pouches.

"I've got to say, Sunlit is really cute like that." Starscream finally said, smiling to the purple and black mech. The Communications Officer lifted his gaze from Sunlit and looked at the seeker, replaying a recording, this time from Breakdown.

_"I knew you would love him."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundwave doesn't take little Sunlit's needs as a joke :3
> 
> -Rolling_girl27


	7. We're a Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn first week of school and it's already CRAZY! I don't even want to imagine how is high school going to be like (T^T)
> 
> Anyways, new chapter! Yaay! And sorry for the wait lol  
> -Rolling_girl27

"So... How's everything going over there on the ship?"

Knock Out asked conversationally as he fixed Ratchet's valve. The older medic just stared at the ceiling, his face locked in a blank expression and his servos were clutching the blanket tightly. There were too many things going on in his helm. Sunlit's well-being, Megatron, his team, everything he had gone through so far. He wasn't in the mood for talking, but he appreciated the ex-Decepticon's attempt to pull him away from his thoughts.

"I'm not sure what do you expect for me to say. Megatron is behaving as he always has, although Soundwave seemed to be more expressive. At least he was with me." He winced as Knock Out touched an open cut, which earned a mumbled apologize from the red mech. "How about Starscream?"

"I didn't see him during all this time." Knock Out hummed lowly in apprehension, carefully spreading some healing gel over the different abrasions on Ratchet's inner walls. He was used to handle this kind of wounds. Every time Megatron had a fit, he would take his anger out on whoever he laid his optics on. He had attended many drones, all with severe valve tearing and he even healed one who had his carrying chamber tore open by Megatron. How did he do that, he didn't want to know.

"You know," Knock Out spoke up again. "You're _extremely_  lucky to only have these wounds, considering Megatron was the one to abuse you."

"Oh, thank you Knock Out. That's so comforting." Ratchet snapped, a little annoyed by that comment. "Don't misunderstand me, I've had the displeasure of dealing with a half-dead Eradicon with his chamber ripped open." The Aston Martin said with a plain voice, the bitter memories replaying in his processor with sorrow.

Ratchet didn't say anything for a while, fearing that he might make the younger medic remember awful things. "Does he always do that?"

"What do you mean?"

"To rape anyone he encounters, no matter what." There was a deep silence filling the room, until Knock Out sighed and answered. "Yes, he used to do that very often. His favourites were the Eradicons." He even stopped his work on Ratchet to talk. "He liked to take them by force. He enjoyed watching them writhing and trembling in pain. He didn't care if they were wet, or even if they were _sealed_. He has always been violent during interface."

Ratchet's next words tasted bitter in his intake, but he dared to ask. "Did you... experience something like that?" There was a long silence again. "Not in my own frame, thank Primus. But Starscream was a frequent victim as well. I even had to witness Megatron taking his virginity."

Both medics let out a sad sigh. "The Air Commander wasn't always like that. The humiliation and pain made him hide himself under a mask of pride. If Megatron had never done that..." he paused and sighed again. "He would be a completely different mech."

"Don't dwell too much on that. What's done is done Knock Out, and even if we wanted to do something about it, we can't because it's already in the past. Everyone needs something to feel strong, and Starscream chose arrogance. Megatron chose abuse..." Ratchet said as he propped himself up on his elbows to look at the other in the optics.

"...you chose vanity."

"You say it like it's a _bad_ thing" Knock Out said playfully as he raised an optic ridge and smirked. "Well, divas like you are too annoying for my tastes." Ratchet chuckled.

"Hey!" Knock Out nudged the other's legs with his elbow and Ratchet's laugh intensified. "But at the same time it gives you some charm. It's a little on the Decepticon side, but so far you're doing great here."

The younger medic's smile faded when Ratchet pronounced the word 'Decepticons'. He had so many memories of his days on the Nemesis, most of them bad. But at the same time he missed Starscream and the drones, his med bay, racing with-

"Anyways," Knock Out shuddered and returned to his current task, motioning Ratchet to lay back down. "Why don't you tell me about your little one?" He grabbed a piece of cotton and dipped it in more healing gel, using a pair of tweezers to reach the deeper parts of the older mech's vlave. Ratchet sighed happily at the memory of his son, a smile appearing on his face.

"He's wonderful. He's so bright and happy, optimistic, cute, and he's got a strong spark." Knock Out hummed in apprehension. "I bet he's _so_ unlike you."

"Watch it, Knock Out."

Both mechs chuckled. "How does he look like?" Ratchet replayed the very few memories of him and his son together, a little hint of sorrow twinging in his spark. "He's mostly white and silver, with little red accents. He's a flier, and he's quite big. He's got _gorgeous_  blue optics." The red mech smiled, trying to imagine how that sparkling would look like.

"His name is Sunlit, right?"

Ratchet hummed and nodded, happiness plastered all over his face. "And did you name him or was it Megatron? Or did Megatron name him and you decided to change his name?"

"What do you think?" Ratchet snapped a little harshly, making the younger mech flinch slightly. "I apologize. That's a very nice name. So Autobot-like."

Silence filled the room once again. Knock Out was still busy working on the open cuts, although he was almost done. In the meantime, Ratchet dared to mention what Soundwave showed him when he took care of Sunlit.

"Soundwave showed me a recording of something you said." The Aston Martin hummed, asking him to continue. "Is it true that you love sparklings?"

Knock Out froze. Oh. Did that wretched mech showed him _that_?! "I... um... Well, you see- ah..."

Ratchet chuckled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, youngling. Although it's still a bit shocking comming from you."

"It's just that I never had any siblings!" The red mech almost cried out as he dropped a tool on his tray, making a loud clanging noise. "I've always thought they're so cute and innocent and they just seem to brighten up the world!"

"Haven't you ever planned on having one?"

Silence reigned once again. That question made Knock Out feel _really_  uncomfortable. "I... I did, a very long time ago. I even tried it once or twice, with Breakdown. Before he..." his voice was shaky all of a sudden. Ratchet frowned and looked at the other mech, watching a single tear run down his white cheek.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you remember that." The ex-Decepticon snapped out of his thoughts, sniffing and wiping the tear away with the back of his hand. "D-Don't worry, it's alright."

Several cycles of uncomfortable silence followed until Knock Out was done fixing Ratchet. "There, all done."

The white and red mech sat up and tried to look at himself, nodding his approval before thanking the other. "Thank you, Knock Out. You did a fair job."

The Aston Martin offered a smile and walked towards a small water deposit, cleaning his servos. Ratchet felt guilty for making him remember all of those memories. He wanted to make up something for him, but he wasn't sure of how. He feared he might trigger another bad memory.

The ambulance rose from the berth and walked towards the other, placing a warm servo on his shoulder. Knock Out glanced at the servo and then looked up at Ratchet. "Listen, youngling. Forget everything you did in the past. Nothing of it matters anymore. You're part of us now, a new member to our small family. If you ever want to erase your history and start again, this is the perfect time to make the move."

Knock Out's red optics widened, his mouth gaping a little. "I'm sure you're going to have a sparkling of your own. It's never too late to do something that you want. But I want you to promise me something," he pulled the younger mech so they were face to face, placing both servos on each of his shoulders. "You're not going to let your past get the best of you. It's not worth sacrificing today's happiness for yesterday's sorrow."

Knock Out couldn't say anything for a while. There were so many emotions swirling in his spark, some of them completely new to him. He only knew fear, anger and pride back on the Nemesis. But here?

He could _really_  feel important here. He felt like someone cared about him, and not just because of his medical skills.

"I... I promise." He lifted his clawed servo and placed it on his chest. "With my spark." Kock Out said in a very firm voice and a determined smile. Ratchet smiled as well, patting the other's shoulder lovingly. "Don't ever forget that you're part of us now. And we'll _always_  be here for you."

* * *

When they stepped out of the secluded room they were in, both Ratchet and Knock Out were stunned. Everyone seemed to be busy doing something, but they weren't sure of what.

"Bumblebee, Smokescreen... What are you doing?" Ratchet asked as he approached the two mechs constructing something. They turned his helm towards the medic and smiled. "We thought it might be a good idea to prepare a couple of things for little Sunray's arrival!" Smokescreen said cheerfully.

"Smokescreen, his name is _Sunlit_ " Bumblebee corrected. "Oh, Sunlit, right." The blue and yellow mech laughed his mistake away and continued ensambling whatever he was doing. "We're almost finished with this crib. I just hope you like it!" Bumblebee smiled, motioning to the pieces of soft and carefully sanded metal, without a single sharp point or rough surface.

Ratchet's spark twinged with love, and he laughed good-heartedly. "Thank you, younglings. I'm sure it will be mostly appreciated." He patted the two mech's helms and moved to the spot where Bulkhead was sitting, alongisde the children.

"Miko, be careful! You wouldn't want to ruin Bulk's recently finished work." Jack scolded her, who just rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Well, I'm sorry! I'm not an expert artist." Just then the four of them noticed Ratchet and waved him 'hello'. "Look Ratchet, we've made a couple of toys for your sparkling!" Raf said enthusiastically as he showed him a big wooden horse figurine, or at least big considering the little human's size.

"I hope so far you're liking them, Ratch" Bulkhead said with a smile as he continued to carve another piece of wood. "Miko, Jack and Raf are helping me to decorate them."

At first Ratchet was a little surpirsed to see that the children already _knew_ , but he just hoped that they didn'y know the _whole_ story. But none of them said anything about it, not even Miko, so he shrugged it off. "They're wonderful" Ratchet commented as he kneeled down to unspect the toy horse Raf had just finished decorating.

The children and the wrecker smiled, continuing to paint and carve the toys they had already made. They had a couple of cubes with letters carved in them, the little horse, a cat, and even Miko donated a big teddy-bear that she no longer used. It was almost her size, but it was just perfect for a Cybertronian sparkling.

"Where's Optimus?" Ratchet looked around the room after he placed the toy back on the floor, rising to his pedes once again. "He's over there with Arcee." Jack pointed towards a corner of the base, where indeed the two Autobots were discussing something, and Knock Out had already joined them.

"Thank you" Ratchet mused and walked towards his comrades. As soon as he arrived, Optimus greeted him with a loving smile. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better, my old friend." Arcee and Knock Out smiled too. "Thank you, Optimus. And if I may ask, what are you doing?" Ratchet tilted his helm to the side curiously, inspecting the large map spread on the table as well as some scribbles and important data written over it.

"We're currently planning a rescue to bring Sunlit back to you." Stated Arcee.


	8. A New Soldier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Megatron's first direct interaction with Sunlit! Yaaaayyy!!!
> 
> Enjoy and please review!  
> -Rolling_girl27

Megatron huffed and slumped on his throne. His harsh ex-vent echoed in the large throne room, currently lit up by the orange and slight purple light of the Earth's sky. He'd never admit it, but this planet's sunsets were absolutely beautiful. He enjoyed to watch the Sun hide in the horizon as the moon started to rise, darkness enveloping the daylight.

But as much as he loved the sight, he needed something else to do.

Megatron huffed again and ticked his claws on the armrest of his impressive throne, wondering what could he do. There weren't any other chores left for himself; he could leave the rest to the drones. Having any free time was something rare. He appreciated it most days, but today, it was plain torture.

Maybe he could order an Eradicon to come and have his way with him... If he was lucky, maybe they would be untouched. But no, he wasn't craving any interface right now. If the Autobot was still on the ship, he would have _loved_  to give him a visit just to mock him...

...wait.

There was actually _something_  that needed to be done.

Something that had been staying here for almost three days now.

The warlord brought his digits to his audial fin to comm. link Soundwave. He waited a couple of nano-kliks before he could hear the other mech had sintonized.

[Soundwave, come to the throne room. And bring Starscream and the sparkling with you.]

[Right away, Lord Megatron.]

The connection was cut as quickly as it had been made, and it was matter of cycles before the spymaster and his not-so-loyal Second in Command entered the room. He immediately spotted the little bundle on Soundwave's arms, making a face at the sight of it.

Both mechs came to a halt a few meters away from where their leader was sitting, bowing down respectfully. "Lord Megatron" Starscream greeted with his raspy voice. "Did you call us, my liege?"

"I did, Starscream." Megatron's words came out as a dangerous growl, and he got a small squeak from the sparkling in response. The big warframe eyed the wriggling mass on his Communications Officer's arms again, his optics narrowing slightly.

"Hand me the sparkling." It was the only command he gave, stretching both his arms so he could be handed what he wanted. Soundwave and Starscream exchanged a nervous look, hesitating to comply before the black and purple mech gave a step forward and slowly stretched his own arms out and into the warlord's.

"Please be careful, my liege. We wouldn't want your heir to get hurt" Starscream gave a nervous smile, using his most convincing voice as he intertwined his digits. "I  _know_  what I'm doing" Megatron answered coldly, glaring at the seeker.

The Decepticon leader finally gripped the young mech from under his arms, bringing it closer to him until their faces were a couple inches apart. Sunlit's optics stared huge into Megatron's, a cute light shining from them. But his Sire merely raised an optic ridge, pulling him away just a little to eye him better.

The little thing was trying to kick his way out of the blanket, his little pedes pressing insistently against the soft mesh. Megatron turned him around, looking at the tips of his wings slightly poking out of the blanket, releasing a soft hum of approval. "He's a flier. He'll certainly be useful for our cause." He moved Sunlit to his previous position. "Plus," he smirked devilishly, "it's an exclusive characteristic of Decepticon frames."

The visitors didn't say anything, instead they nodded once in acknowledgement. Sunlit tilted his little helm to the side, his arms shooting outwards to touch and caress his Sire's face. Megatron was surprised at first, jerking his helm backwards to get away from the touch. But the sparkling grew more and more insistent, so much that in the end he let him explore the scarred metal.

Sunlit chirped and squeaked in a way he had only done with his Carrier, trying to identify this mech as someone he knew. But sadly, his spark didn't recognise him as his Sire, just some mech more like Starscream or Soundwave.

"What is he doing?" Megatron asked with a half-annoyed tone as the sparkling kept exploring his facial features. "I believe he is trying to find any kindship with you, my Lord." Starscream answered after analyzing the sparkling's actions a little.

"He's too soft to be a warrior in my army." A low rumble escaped from his engines, making Sunlit look down at his chestplates and then giggle. The other two mechs feared their leader could harm the little thing, but Megatron didn't do any other thing than grimacing and narrowing his optics.

"It's going to take a while, but I'm going to raise him with all of the Decepticon morals." The warlord pulled the sparkling closer to his frame, staring directly at his optics. Sunlit did the same, although he kept chirping and squeaking in the way he was doing before.

"Those Autobots don't know what it's awaiting them" his lips curled into a dangerous grin and his red optics flashed, unconciously increasing the tightness of his grip, making Sunlit start to whimper and eventually he let out a shriek when those sharp claws were starting to dig in his delicate armor.

The three mechs in the room startled, Megatron almost dropping the young mech to the floor and Soundwave and Starscream rushed to where they were. Sunlit started crying in pain and a little fear, thick tears streaming down his cheeks and staining them. "W-What is wrong with him?!" Megatron snarled, his face a mix of confusion and anger.

"Um... W-We... Can you please lend him to us, my lord? We'll take care of him!" Starscream suggested desperately, his wings twitching in nervousness. Megatron didn't need to be asked twice, he immediately placed -and almost threw- the sparkling into the seeker's arms, and he quickly pressed him to his chest and craddled him lovingly. Soundwave stepped beside the silver mech and looked down at the wailing sparkling, chirping cute noises to calm him down.

The Decepticon leader was starting to grow irritated from all those harsh cries, narrowing his optics and baring his denta. "Why is he crying?! Make it stop!"

"We're trying, my Lord!" The two mechs were starting to get anxious as well, if Sunlit didn't shut up he would cut Megatron's patience out, and he didn't want to imagine what was going to happen to the three of them if that actually happened.

Thinking of some way to calm Sunlit down, Soundwave suddenly played the recording he saved from three days ago, before his Carrier went to 'discuss' a couple of things with Megatron.

" _Everything will be alright, Sunlit. Soundwave will take care of you._ "

The little one's wailing suddenly subsided, his optics widening even more when he heard his Carrier's voice. Soundwave projected a few colorful shapes on his visor, making some other chirping noises that he now knew the little one understood. Little by little Sunlit calmed down, sniffing and sobbing every once in a while but at least his cries weren't that loud anymore.

The sparkling stretched out his arms towards Soundwave, who almost immediately took him from Starscream's servos and started craddling him against his chest. Both mechs started cooing cute things to him, finally making him giggle again after a while.

Megatron could only watch how _ridiculous_  his lieutenants were looking. "What do you think you're doing, you fools?" Both mechs turned to look at their leader with a confused expression. "You're just going to turn him into a soft-sparked Autobot that way!" Megatron roared and both mechs flinched, Soundwave covering Sunlit's audios protectively.

"That's enough; give him to me! I will look after him from now on." The warlord stretched his arms out again, but none of his mechs complied. They just stood there, looking at him, with a stunned expression on their faces. "What are you waiting for? Obey me!"

"B-But my Lord, I'm afraid that you'll have to learn to craddle him properly first!" Starscream protested, his wings perking up a little. "And you must learn to feed him, and entertain him, and rock him to sleep..."

" _That_ is none of your bussiness, Starscream. It's my creation and I'll raise him in my own way. Now, Soundwave, hand me the sparkling."

Soundwave hesitated for a long time, but for the dangerous glare his Lord was giving him, he slowly walked forward and offered the little one who was making happy noises again. Megatron almost yanked him out of the other's servos, imitating the way the spymaster was craddling him before. He pressed the sparkling to his chest, an arm supporting his helm and back while the other supported his legs and aft. Considering their size differences it was somewhat hard, but he managed to do it.

"You're dismissed. Stay alert if you receive any ping from me; I will be needing your assistance." His red optics travelled until they locked with Starscream's and then Soundwave's visor, glinting almost a red-blood. "And you better be here when I ask for it."

Both mechs nodded and saluted, walking almost unsteadily as both gave quick glances over their shoulders to look at the warlord with the sparkling on his arms.

Primus protect the little one from his brutal Sire.

* * *

Megatron huffed again when the two mechs were out of the throne room, finally standing up and starting to pace through the large room. Sunlit bounced slightly on his arms but didn't protest. "You're going to be some heavy duty, aren't you?" Megatron asked in his deep voice, obviously not expecting an answer but he wanted to make a bond with his creation.

"If you're going to be the next Decepticon Leader, you must have a powerful name." He paced in front of the large window, the sky already dark with the shine of the moon as the only source of light. "Judging by your appearance, I will call you Deadlock." Sunlit gave a small confused chirp and tilted his helm, staring wide into the powerful warlord's face.

"And now that I think of it, you're going to be mostly appreciated here. A Decepticon with blue optics is something very unique." Megatron chuckled, looking at the little sparkling currently suckling on his thumb. "Together we'll show the Autobots that thier cause is ruined. When they see you leading our armies," he laughed, "Well, they'll bow down to your pedes. They would _never_  hurt a 'bot of their own kind."

The warlord paced a little more, thinking of how delicious the victory would taste when he finally defeated the Autobots. Oh, he would _love_  to see their faces when they see that an Autobot is part of the Decepticons now. Especially the look on that stupid medic's face...

He let out a low chuckle, the vibrations running through his frame and onto Sunlit's smaller one, making him mewl in discomfort. Megatron narrowed his optics and looked down. "First rule, a soldier _never_ admits he's in distress." He said in a very serious tone, although Sunlit merely giggled at it.

The warlord rolled his optics. "You're going to be certainly a challenge, aren't you?"


	9. Responsibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Megatron x Sunlit in here! Yaaay!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Rolling_girl27

"Lord Megatron, are you sure you can handle this? It's not that I don't trust in your capacity to feed a sparkling, but just a little slip from your arms can rellay hurt him or even you!"

Starscream was clicking his claws nervously, standing in front of his Lord. Megatron was sitting on the edge of his berth, holding Sunlit with one arm while taking a feeding bottle with his free servo. Soundwave had made him the favor of finding a way to process mid-grade energon to a more suitable grade for sparklings.

"I _know_  I can do this, Starscream" Megatron glared at his Second in Command. "Just tell me how to do it."

Starscream hesitated for a bit, walking closer to his Master. As soon as he stretched his arm to take Sunlit from his arms, the warlord gave a dangerous growl that made him flinch in fear. "I ordered you to _tell_ me, not to _demonstrate_  me."

The silver seeker whimpered and lowered his wings in nervousness. "R-Right. My apologies, Lord Megatron." He took a step back, not wanting to get damaged himself or even the sparkling he had grown so fond of already. "Well, first you should position your servo so it is supporting the sparkling's rear." Megatron obeyed and straddled his servo as he had been explained. "Good, then his helm is supposed to rest on the crook of your arm."

Soon, Megatron was straddling little Sunlit correctly, his huge blue optics switching from staring at the Decepticon leader and at the feedibg bottle, then back repeating the cycle for Primus knows how long. "Excellent job, my liege. Now, before you start feeding Sunlit-"

"His name is Deadlock."

"...before you start feeding _Deadlock,_ there are a few important things you should know." The sparkling's new name tasted bitter in his mouth, he was used to that cute Autobot name that he couldn't imagine such an innocent thing like Sunlit with a Decepticon name like Deadlock. But he was Megatron's creation after all, and he was no one to go against his leader's decisions.

"Don't tilt the bottle too much, the energon will flow too fast and you might choke the sparkling. Please be patient, my Lord. It's natural for him to take his time while feeding, knowing that he is still young. And if he can't finish his whole bottle, don't force him. We wouldn't like to end up with a sparkling with distressed tanks."

"And how am I supposed to know when he is finished?" Megatron snapped, his red optics burning into Starscream's as he possessed that feral expressions he had always had. "W-Well, there are several ways to know... The most common one is for him to close his lips, although he might as well stop sucking but continue being latched. He may turn his helm away or start to curiously look at his surroundings, maybe even fall into a recharge cycle."

Megatron hummed in apprehension, looking down at the sparkling who was impatiently looking at the bottle, licking his lips in a way that told him that he was hungry and he felt his little pedes shift under the blanket. "That would be all, Starscream. You are dismissed."

Starscream bowed before heading to the door. "Be careful and good luck, Lord Megatron. If you need something, don't-"

" _I said_ you are dismissed." His voice was harsher now, making the seeker squeak in fear and quickly hurry out of his Lord's quarters.

Megatron huffed, shifting Sunlit a little in his grasp before carefully lowering the bottle to his face, his little intake quickly latching the rubber nub as soon as it was close enough to him. Sunlit suckled greedily, the sweet and warm energon flowing down his throat and onto his tanks.

"So far you haven't given me that much trouble." Megatron spoke, looking down at his sparkling, who was looking back at him. "But you're too young nonetheless. I have no use for a sparkling right now."

Sunlit didn't understand what the other was saying, but he had already grown to recognize his voice. "But as much as I would have liked to leave you with someone else, I can't let my first creation go."

"You will grow to be a strong warrior, a loyal soldier to the cause despite your blue optics. My successor can't be a soft-sparked Autobot like your filthy carrier. But that won't be a problem, I made sure that that Autobot won't see you ever again. That way you can grow like the Decepticon leader you're supposed to be."

Sunlit was half-way done already, somehow plucking his little arms out of the blanket and looking for the other's servo, to latch his little fist onto one of his fingers like he had done with his Carrier and Soundwave. Megatron looked with mild disinterest how the sparkling was looking for something, gently shooing his little servos away when they started touching him. But as soon as Sunlit got the opportunity, he closed his servo around one of his clawed digits, not letting go even when the warlord started to pull his hand away.

"What do you think you're doing, Deadlock?" Megatron growled lowly, but Sunlit didn't seem to be scared even a bit. After several more attempts to free himself, he found that the sparkling wouldn't let go, so he finally surrendered. Plus, he thought it would be necessary to stay close to him if he wanted to create a strong bond.

Sunlit was almost finished with his bottle, squeezing the digit under his servo steadily as his optics roamed all over the Decepticon's face. Megatron watched him carefully as well, wondering how would his son grow to be a powerful leader. Those Autobots would be _ruined_ , and he could finally be able to take Cybertron for himself. Maybe he even would help his son to conquer a planet of his own.

Maybe he should have more heirs, either from the Vehicons or capturing more Autobot prisioners. That way he could create a small army of his progeny to use against the Autobots. But he wasn't sure if he would be able to look after so many sparklings... He already had enough with a single one! Plus, who knew if they would have as much potential as this half-Autobot half-Decepticon.

Sunlit finally drained his bottle with two final gulps, gently shifting his helm to the side to get the rubber nub out of his intake. Megatron gently plucked it out of him, setting it aside on a small table beside him. Sunlit licked his pink-stained lips a little before burping, making the warlord jump slightly. The sparkling giggled at the other's reaction, and Megatron narrowed his optics at him.

"Second rule, don't ever _laugh_ at your superiors. Understood?" His tone was harsh, but it only managed to make Sunlit giggle again and reach his little arms towards him, asking for a hug. The Decepticon leader growled and shifted the little sparkling on his arms, lifting him until they were face-to-face. Megatron was about to say something before Sunlit quickly pulled the other's face towards him, nuzzling him and chirping and squeaking cutely.

Megatron froze in his place, surprised by the other's action. He wasn't sure if he should let him get close to him or shove him away; he wasn't a big fan of physical contact, but sincerely, he didn't want to hurt his son either. So in the end he decided to let himself be touched, offlining his optics and trying to start the flame that would settle their sire-creation bond. Sunlit kept nuzzling and chirping at him, imitiating the way he had hugged his Carrier before.

After what seemed to be cycles, Megatron started growing irritated. As carefully as he could he pushed Sunlit away from him, jerking his helm backwards to deny more contact. "That is enough, Deadlock. Behave."

Sunlit whimpered sadly but didn't protest any further. Instead, he grabbed a handful of blanket and started sucking on it, his little external wings twitching under the blanket. The warlord rolled his optics at the immature behavior of his son, glancing at the clock on the berthstand. It marked 11 p.m. according to the Earth time.

Megatron huffed, standing up from the berth and walking towards Sunlit's new crib, a gift he had received from the Vehicons as well as a couple toys, feeding bottles, blankets, and processed energon. Personally he thought it was stupid for a sparkling to need so many things, but Soundwave had stated they were necessary if he wanted his son to be comfortable and grow strong.

He removed the little one from his blanket, gently lowering and laying him on the soft padding of the crib. Sunlit looked around him curiously, not feeling scared but rather in a strange place. It was an enclosed, surrounded by silver bars and with several toys discared. Under his helm was a soft pillow, one with little purple frills on the edge.

Megatron took the blanket Sunlit was wrapped in before and placed it on top of him, tucking it under his shoulders and his little pedes. He then took a plushie with the shape of an organic cat and tucked it under the blanket as well, the sparkling examining it for a while before hugging it and starting to suck one of the ears.

"It's late, you should recharge. I still have important things to do and I can't keep an optic on you all the time." Megatron said lowly, expecting to see the little sparkling start to drift off into recharge but instead he remained wide awake, suckling his new toy and rocking from side to side in his crib. "What? Don't tell me you're not tired. Tomorrow wil be a busy day, if you don't rest you'll have to attend the consequences."

The sparkling stared at the warlord, not showing even a single sign of feeling like recharging. Megatron huffed annoyingly. How would he be able to work with this wide awake sparkling? He had already fed him, craddled him earlier, shouldn't he be resting already?

"Back in the mines, when we couldn't fall into recharge, the rest of the miners would tell eachother stories. As we grew up, those stories became old memories." The warlord spoke slowly, leaning against the edge of the crib as he got comfortable. Well, this was going to be a _long_  night. Sunlit now watched him with interest, his little wings perking up as he tilted his helm.

"This happened a lot of stellar-cycles ago. I was just a sparkling, though much older than you, but I already had to work despite my age. One solar cycle our Masters took us to an unexplored mine, one which was dark and dangerous. Me and my group of miners got lost several times, even some of them fell down deep and dark holes." He started telling his story, expalining as best as he could all the details he remembered, the fear he had felt, the sorrow of losing his friends, the pain of the wounds and the desperation to find a way out.

It made his spark twing a little with sadness as the memories replayed in his helm. Luckily his son wouldn't have to experience all of that to become the next Decepticon leader, he would make sure he grew strong without the need of so much pain. He would train him and mould him to be a successful mech, one that would make the Autobots bow to his pedes, one that would conquer many planets and grow his empire, one that would be remembered as a powerful individual in all the Cybertronian history.

The warlord kept retelling his life story, and before he could notice, Sunlit had already fallen into recharge.


	10. Laid Out Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those whi have been impatient for it, *coughcough*desperate*coughcough*, here is a bit of Optimus/Ratchet! Yaaay!
> 
> Also, more Megs and Sunlit action in here :3 I wanted to add more scenes with the little sparkling and his Sire before the Autobots go and rescue him.
> 
> Please enjoy!  
> -Rolling_girl27

The whole Autobot team and the three children gathered around for the upcomming meeting Optimus had organized, in order to settle and explain the rescue plan to retrieve Sunlit. It looked simple, but they knew it would take all their strength. Even more to Ratchet.

The Autobot leader stated that they had a maximun of three days to prepare, train and organize whatever they needed for the rescue and Sunlit's arrival. It was the first time a Cybertronian sparkling was born on Earth, and even if Ratchet would have loved to raise his little boy back on his home planet, they would have to stick to the organic planet's accomodations.

Firstly they had to locate the ship, make sure that it settled somewhere instead of having it wandering around; it would be easier to infiltrate it that way. But if the circumstances got complicated or they were running out of time, they would have to break in on the go.

The children would remain on the base, using Raf's computer to connect to the Nemesis' security cameras and temporarily deactivate them, as well as to know where was the sparkling currently residing. Jack and Miko would be in charge of the space bridges if they were to need them (which was the most likely thing to happen) and if the 'bots needed back up, they could easily contact agent Fowler.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen would raise the bait, wandering around the ship as if they were lost or looking for something so they could gather the Vehicons' attention. They would surely go out and attack them, and with the help of Optimus and Bulkhead, they would fight as many as they could. Once Megatron noticed Prime's prescence, he would come out and fight him by himself, leaving the ship unattended.

Ratchet, Arcee and Knock Out would infiltrate the Nemesis, following Raf's instructions to get to Sunlit's location. The rest of the plan was basically about getting the sparkling, avoid being caught and getting out alive.

Everyone had agreed with their roles and even they had started looking for the Decepticon ship. These were the rare ocassions where Ratchet didn't dislike the little human younglings at all.

The base was filled with loud chit chat and excited voices, some of the Autobots were discussing what battle strategies they might use and some others were cleaning and preparing their weapons. Raf and Bumblebee were searching for any Cybertronian signal with their computer, Miko was suggesting battle moves to Bulkhead and Smokescreen, Jack was trying to boost Arcee's mood with positive words and Knock Out and Optimus were talking peacefully.

Everyone was hanging out with the others, except Ratchet. He was isolated on a corner of the base, where they kept a small bench. His optics were almost empty, and his frame looked weak. He was currently sitting with his knees spread, his servos resting between then and his helm hanging limply, staring down at the floor.

He heard some pedesteps aproach and they stopped in front of him, but honestly, he wasn't in the mood for some peppy talk from the younglings. "I'm fine, just leave me alone for a moment, please."

"You clearly aren't fine, my old friend." Came a deep voice in response, and then Ratchet decided to look up. He met Optimus' forgiving optics, those he had seen and admired for a very long time now. Those were the optics of someone who he had followed all his life, who he had trusted and relied on.

Optimus sat down beside Ratchet, his handsome features twisted with worry. He placed a comforting servo on Ratchet's back and said, "I have known you for a very long time, and I can tell when you're feeling distressed. What is going on Ratchet? What is it that it's bothering you?"

It took a while for the old medic to answer, since it was difficult for him to find the right words to describe his feelings. He was a war medic, he had seen it all, and he was strong. Back in his days, he didn't have time to dwell over the loss of something or someone. He just needed to forget the past and carry on, it seemed.

Opening his mouth and closing it several times, he finally spoke. "I miss him, Optimus. I miss my son." He didn't dare to look at his friend in the optics, he just kept staring at his intertwined servos. "I hadn't even spent a full solar-cycle with him before they snatched him away from me." Optimus didn't say anything, he just rubbed the other's back in small circles and kept listening to him.

"What if the Decepticons are hurting him?! They don't know a damn about sparkling care... I don't have _anything_  to rely on! I don't even know if he's still _alive!_ " Suddenly his voice rose, a shaky and sad voice, and Ratchet couldn't control the sobs that escaped him as he released all his pain and pity. He hid his optics on his servos, thick tears running down his cheeks as his frame trembled slightly.

"I haven't experienced that feeling in my life, but I can certainly understand how bad does it feel when a Carrier loses their newborn." Optimus said softly, still rubbing his friend's back soothingly. "I know you're distress, my friend. But worry not, the rescue plan has already been settled and we'll be ready when the time comes."

Ratchet's sobs subsided and he turned to look at Optimus, tears clouding his vision a little. "But then what, Optimus? What am I going to do with Sunlit?" The Prime's face showed a little of confusion. "I haven't raised a sparkling before... I can _barely_ control three human younglings, how do you expect me to raise a creation of my own?"

The Autobot leader nodded in aprehension and looked away for a nano-klik, thinking for something to say. "You know you can count on us for whatever you need, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we're here for you."

The medic sniffed and cleaned his nose with the back of his hand, shaking his helm slightly. "You don't understand. Even if you were here to help me out, I'm still going to be a single carrier. And it's not your responsibility to raise him, Sunlit is _my_ son and it's my duty to teach him right from wrong, to comfort him when upset and scold him when reckless or stubborn."

"So you believe that the abscence of a Sire would affect him?" Optimus asked softly, his voice filled with concern and curiosity. Ratchet nodded miserably. "Not exactly to _affect_  him, but I mostly believe it will be a hard work for me. I know I've experienced worse things during the war, but this is different. I've never been good with sparklings, Optimus, and you know it."

The Prime seemed to look thoughtful for a while, silence filling the room for a few cycles before turning to his friend again. "If it makes you feel better, I am willing to be the suplant Sire of your sparkling."

Ratchet couldn't help but stare at him with an incredulous look, his mouth slightly agaped and his optics wide. "Optimus... Are you serious? You're a very important mech, and I don't want to pull you ot of your-"

"Trust me when I say this, Ratchet." Optimus suddenly cut him, but he wasn't harsh, it was mostly soft. "You have been my friend, confident and companion for a very long time, and you have always been there by my side, during the war and even the days before the war. You have already done so much for me, and I believe it is my turn to do something for you." He took one of his servos in his own, cleaning a tear threatening to slide from his white cheek with his free hand.

"So my question is, would you give me the honor of being the Sire of your sparklings? Or better said, the 'adoptive' Sire?" He wasn't sure if it was the best time to use the human term, but he wanted to loosen up the mood and help his friend feel at ease. He wanted him to know that he wasn't courting him because of duty, but because of love and the desire to help him out of this situation.

Ratchet smiled widely and nodded slowly at first, then enthusiastically as he pulled his friend -and now mate- into a tight hug. Tears started streaming down his face once again, but this time they were from something different than sadness: they were from joy.

"Don't worry, my dear Ratchet." Optimus said softly into the medic's audio. "We will raise Sunlit together, and we'll help him grow as the strong and brave Autobot he's destined to be."

* * *

Megatron woke up with a start, a sharp cry peircing his audios that resonated in the darkness of the room.

He sat up on his berth with a grunt, a servo covering his audio as he looked around the room to find the source of that horrible noise. It didn't take long for him to figure out the noise was comming from his sparkling's crib.

The warlord stepped out of his berth, mumbling courses as his optics recalibrated with sleepyness as he tried to get acustomed to the darkness around him. Once he reached the small piece of furniture he looked down, making a face when he spotted the little wailing sparkling who was twisiting on the matress, the little cat toy forgotten and the blanket draped over his legs.

Megatron bent down and took the sparkling in his arms with a grunt, straddling him and trying to rock him back to sleep. So far it wasn't working, and he began to pace around the room, still swinging the little one gently in his arms as the high-pitched cries didn't stop.

He walked back again to the crib, taking the stuffed cat in his servos and dangling it over Sunlit's face, trying to at least gather his attention. The little sparkling ignored him and kept twisting his frame as he cried.

"Calm down, Deadlock. There's no reason for you to throw a fit, even more at this time of the night." He spoke with his deep voice, taking a quick glance towards the clock on his berth stand only to see it marked 3 a.m. according to the Earth hour.

He dangled the toy again. "Look, tha cat will be unhappy too if you don't stop crying." He rolled his optics from the stupidity of that sentence, but Soundwave stated that 'soft and kind words were good to soothe a sparkling and gain his confidence'. Sunlit ignored the cat completely and kept wailing.

The Decepticon's patience was already cutting thin, and it didn't look like Sunlit was going to stop anytime soon. He thought that his son might be cold, so he took the blanket from the crib and wrapped it around his little frame, but nothing. He pressed him against his chest while supporting his little aft with his servo in a sitting position, and no change. He started humming the old and almost forgotten Decepticon anthem as a lullaby, but got no effect.

He straddled the loud youngling with a single arm with an angry huff as he brought his free servo to his audial fin.

[Soundwave, come to my quarters this instant.] His voice was calm, but the tone of annoyance was clear in it beside the faint sound of the sparkling's cries.

[Of course, Lord Megatron.] Was the only response he got before the two mechs cut the connection. Megatron sighed and began rocking his son while pacing around the room, and he almost felt like the little one's endless wailing was going to fry his neural wiring.

* * *

There was a small knock on the door. "Come in." Megatron called out loud before the spymaster appeared. He immediately flinched when he heard the sharp and loud cries, flashing a [ ?! ] on his visor.

"I don't know what is wrong with him! I fed him before going to recharge, and I've been holding him for hours. I need your assitance." The warlord almost dropped Sunlit on Soundwave's arms, giving the silent mech less than a nano-klik to catch him. Soundwave looked at the crying sparkling with his helm tilted to the side before carrying and pressing him against his chest.

He gently caressed the little one's helm as he chirped and beeped with the dialect they had been communicating with, hoping that that would calm him down like before. Sunlit just coughed twice and continued crying, ignoring the sounds the other was making.

The Communications Officer then headed towards the berth, pausing before slowly directing his gaze towards his Lord, who was staring -and almost glaring- at him with his burning optics. He motioned towards the berth and played an audio recording:

"May I, Lord Megatron?"

The warlord seemed to consider his answer for a few nano-kliks before giving a firm nod. Soundwave sat down at the edge of the berth and straddled the sparkling comfortably against his chest. Megatron watched intently as small pieces of metal slid aside on the spymaster's chest revealing two small nubs, one of them already dripping a little bead of processed energon.

He brought Sunlit's helm towards his chest, waiting for the sparkling to latch onto one of his nubs and begin suckling. But after a few nano-kliks the little one didn't move an inch, he didn't even try to get the rubbery appendage to his intake. Soundwave tilted his helm to the side, clearly confused, as he retracted his nubs and slid his chest plating back in place.

Both the warlord and spymaster tried to distract the little one, offering toys and cooing stupid and cheesy words (at least for Megatron) to make him happy again, but he didn't seem to pay any attention. They tried feeding him with a bottle instead, and he rejected it again. Megatron tried talking to him like he had before he himself went into recharge, but nothing.

Then again, Soundwave tried the thing he had done and so far worked wonders.

" _Everything will be alright, Sunlit. Soundwave will take care of you._ "

And like magic, the sparkling's wailing was decreasing little by little every time the black and purple mech repeated the recording. Too bad he didn't have a chance to record more soothing words from the Autobot.

Megatron froze and watched as his Communications Officer calmed the sparkling down, hearing the Autobot's voice in the recording was almost as disgusting as his son's cries. Maybe even more.

He narrowed his optics and let out a dangerous growl. Soundwave immediately snapped his attention towards him, unconciously covering the sparkling with both arms in a protective way. "Soundwave, _what are you making my son listen to_." Even if it was a question, it sounded more like a statement due to the dark tone he was using.

Soundwave stared at him for a brief moment before looking back at the sparkling, who was now staring at him with his huge teary optics as he suckled on his thumb and gave occassional whimpers.

[He might be missing his Carrier, Lord Megatron. Sunlit may have already developed a strong bond with the Autobot and he was the only one he looked up to as a Creator.] He sent the message through the comm. link.

"He isn't 'Sunlit', his name is Deadlock." He snapped, making the spymaster flinch just slightly. "And I won't be having any of that; I got rid of that stupid medic and I don't plan on taking him back. I'm his Sire and only Creator now, and he'll have to learn to live with that."

Soundwave didn't quite like the new name, but as always, he didn't complain or protest. He gave a small nod. [Forgive me, my liege. You should spend more time with Deadlock, then. Would you like and try to hold him?]

Megatron answered with another growl and stretched his arms, his intention crystal clear. Soundwave quickly but gently placed the now-silent sparkling on his Lord's arms, who quickly brought him back to his chest as if he was a precious treasure and that someone might snatch it from him at any moment.

His red optics looked down at blue ones, who were now dry and gleaming in the dark. "Dismissed, Soundwave. And you'd better be forgetting that Autobot name, for he isn't a soft-sparked glitch."

The black and purple mech bowed respectfully before retiring from the room, the door swishing silently before the warlord and his son were left alone once again. Megatron huffed in annoyance and rolled his optics. "Sunlit," he spat. "How could they choose such a pathetic designation?"

The warlord paced a little more around the room, mumbling things to himself and sometimes directing his words towards his creation, whose optics were now dimming with tiredness. "Tired again, hm? Of course you are, you drained everyone's energy with that immature fit of yours." The warlord said softly. He didn't want to scare the sparkling and have to deal with him crying again.

He unwrapped him from his blanket and gently placed him on the soft padding of the crib, covering him with the soft mesh like he had done before. "For your interest, I mean what I said earlier." He grabbed the same stuffed cat and tucked it under the blanket as well, the little one nuzzling his face against the soft fur with a yawn.

"Your Carrier isn't here anymore, and he'll never be. You'd better learn to live without him and start looking up to me. I'm your Sire, Deadlock, and I'll be the only one to raise you from now on." Sunlit had fallen into a recharge cycle before the warlord finished his little speech.

Megatron rose from the crib and gave his son one last glance before turning around and heading towards his berth. A quick look at the clock showed that it was 5 a.m., meaning that the morning activities would start soon.

He gave an angry huff and slumped in the soft padding, pulling a thick blanket over his frame as his optics instantly offlined with tiredness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I keep repeating Soundwave's recording a little too much, I just wanted to add it like a type of 'desperation' as our loving uncle didn't have time to record anything else and it's his only resource since Ratchet was kicked out :P
> 
> (I don't know if you get my point)


	11. Caretaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uncle Soundwave and Starscream featured here!
> 
> Yaaaay!  
> -Rolling_girl27

The ship was silent, as always. Well, except for the occassional wails or giggles that echoed through the halls and comming directly from Lord Megatron's quarters, the only sound that at least made everyone else on board feel like there was something going right.

Although in the current situation, Soundwave didn't know if he should feel happy or worried about being called to the warlord's quarters. It could only mean two things... Either to discuss some battle plans, strategies or whatever important stuff about the Nemesis and its crew in private, or to help him with sparkling caretaking.

He had to admit that he _loved_  being around Sunlit. It had been an extremely long time since there was a Decepticon sparkling born naturally, and even if the little thing was half-Autobot and had blue optics, you couldn't help but love him. He was like a bright candle in a dark hole, lighting up the mood and make you regain your hope- that's why he was called Sunlit.

The silent mech came to a halt in front of the large doors where his leader more than likely should be residing behind. He knocked firmly, waiting for a response. There was a muffled 'come in', and the doors slid open.

He paced quietly inside the room, keeping his vision locked in front of him rather than exploring the vast space. He had seen the warlord's quarters many times, and even if they had way more luxuries than his own, he really didn't feel interested at all. He was happy with what he'd got and didn't desire such exaggerated things that he himself deemed unnecessary.

He stopped once again in the living room, a little confused that his Lord couldn't be seen around. "Over here, Soundwave." He turned to look to the source of the deep voice he had just heard, and finally spotted the silver warframe standing in his berthroom, a little blue bundle resting on his arms.

The spymaster approached just as silently as before, stopping in front of the Decepticon leader and bowing down respectfully. He raised and then proceeded to project a [ ? ] in his visor, tilting his helm to the side and giving a quick glance to the sparkling.

"Yes, I have called you here to look after my son while I'm on duty. Starscream is on duty as well, but I've ordered him to come once he's finished so he can assist you." He extended his arms so he could handle little Sunlit to Soundwave. It was impressive how those strong arms that had killed so many 'bots, Autobots and Decepticons alike, were capable of holding such a delicate thing.

  
Soundwave gave one firm nod and took the sparkling in his arms, craddling him near to his chest and patting his helm a little. "I also expect you to deliver your reports. Once Starscream is here, you can handle Deadlock to him while you work. I don't mind if you turn them up at a later hour." The black and purple mech gave a small bow in sign of gratitude.

"His energon bottles are in the left cabinet to the corner," The ex-gladiator explained while pointing a claw towards three small cabinets in a corner of the room. "His toys are in the basket over there and there are a couple more in his crib. Blankets are in the third drawer of that cabinet. If something happens, comm. link me. Understood?"

Soundwave gave another firm nod. Megatron nodded back at him and without further words, made his way out of his quarters, the doors sliding silently behind him as the spymaster heard his heavy pedesteps fade away.

Once he was sure his leader was away, he sat down on the edge of the berth, bringing Sunlit close to his face and meeting his huge blue optics. The sparkling already identified him well, and upon sensing his EM field, he giggled and reached for the spymaster's visor, clicking and chirping in the way he had taught him. Soundwave projected a [ : ) ] on his visor and nuzzled the little mech, letting out a loving purr of his engines.

Sunlit mewled and nuzzled his helm back, offlining his optics and flaring his own EM field full of love. Soundwave's spark fluttered under his chest, although he felt a little sad as well. As much as Sunlit loved him and he himself loved him back, he knew there would be no other bot in this Universe that he'd love more than his Carrier.

He was starting to fear that the little one would forget about him since he hadn't been in the ship with him for quite a while, almost two Earth weeks already. It didn't help that he had saved just one recording from his voice, wishing he had recorded more beautiful words and praises from him.

Either way, if Megatron had actually allowed the Autobot to stay on board the Nemesis, it wouldn't be exactly pleasant. The medic didn't love Lord Megatron, and Lord Megatron certainly didn't love him back. The only knot that would keep the weak lace together would be the little sparkling. Yes, it would be a lot easier if his Carrier was with him, but how can a sparkling survive being raised in an unwanted family?

It wouldn't be any good for him. It was better if Sunlit stayed with only one of his creators, and that is the Autobot. Megatron would never learn how to raise a sparkling with all the love and affection an Autobot could offer. Although he had been doing a good job so far, the little sparkling didn't belong here.

He just wasn't a Decepticon.

A sound between a gurgle and a giggle snapped him out of his thoughts, and returning his lost gaze to the sparkling he saw the little one's confused face. Soundwave chuckled silently and chirped an apology.

Sunlit smiled once again now that the spymaster had woken up from his stupor, returning to mess with the spiky parts of his helm and nuzzling him whenever he could. Soundwave didn't really like being touched, but he let him this time just for the little one's sake.

Soon enough Sunlit grew bored and began squirming his way out of the spymaster's hold with small annoyed grunts and whines. Soundwave understood and carefully placed him on the soft purple carpet beneath their pedes, freeing the little mech from the blanket and letting him explore for a while.

Sunlit chirped at the new sensation on his protoform, grabbing a handful of fuzzy carpet and trying to pull it, then doing the same with his other servo. He kept pawing the surface for a while before something else caught his attention. Lifting his gaze towards the basket full of toys, he began to crawl towards it with little babbles and gurgles.

Soundwave had turned around on the berth to fold the blanket into a neat square. He placed it on his lap before turning his gaze towards the spot he had left Sunlit in, his spark skipping a beat when the little mech wasn't there.

He started to panic, looking around the room desperately and even chirping a little to gain his attention. He got up the berth with a jump, quickly scanning the room in search of the little one's EM field. Suddenly there was a faint chirp and the black and purple mech whipped his helm towards the source of the sound, pacing around the berth and peeking over it... Letting out a shudder of relief when he saw the sparkling trying to reach the top of the basket.

Soundwave relaxed considerably, sitting down on the floor cross-legged as he began to take out several toys. Sunlit's attention directed to the toys Soundwave had just taken out, but none of them looked very interesting to him. The spymaster tilted his helm to the side, taking out more and more toys until the basket was almost empty and there was a mess on the floor. But Sunlit didn't seem to be interested yet.

Then, peeking a little on the basket, he saw a bunch of colored metal cubes residing at the very bottom. He scooped them with his skinny digits and placed them in front of the sparkling, who now giggled and dropped himself on the floor, admiring the colored cubes with awe. Soundwave let him mess with them while he returned his other toys back in the basket, from stuffed organic animals to soft bouncing balls.

He returned his attention to Sunlit, who had already grasped one of the cubes in his little servo and was shaking it around. The spymaster began to arrange the cubes by color according to what the humans called a 'rainbow'.

Sunlit suddenly dropped the cube he was holding just to watch what was the Communications Officer doing, tilting his helm a little to the side. The cubes were arranged in a perfect line, from red at the beggining to purple at the end.

He then began to pile them up into two columns, smiling for himself behind his visor as he felt the dazed stare of the other's blue optics on him. Sunlit reached closer to the cubes, looking and chirping at them with awe, before he shoot a servo outwards and accidentaly knocked the cubes off balance and the little towers fell to the ground with 'clangs' muffled by the carpet.

Sunlit started laughing uncontrolably, somehow finding the cubes' collapse completely hilarious. But it kept him happy and entertained, Soundwave guessed, so he proceeded to take the cubes and form the two towers again, only to be knocked off by the little sparkling, earning more joyful laughter from him.

It was cute how he was so amazed by something as simple as this. They kept doing that three or four times more, until Sunlit took his lead and grasped the cube that was nearest to him, piling it up with another one that was already on the floor. Soundwave didn't do anything to help or stop him, it was better if he let the little mech learn by himself sometimes.

Sunlit managed to pile up three cubes before the fell down to the floor again. This time he just giggled a little, but now he was more determined to keep them piled up instead of just knocking them off balance. He wanted to make a tower like Soundwave had made, with at least five cubes standing in a perfect pile.

The spymaster just handed him the cubes and watched how the little one struggled to keep the cubes on balance, even when they usually fell down when he had piled up a third. But Sunlit didn't give up, if they fell, he just giggled and stared at them for a while before starting to make his tower again.

It took a couple of tries, but he finally managed to pile five cubes up with a triumphant giggle. He turned to look at Soundwave as if waiting to be praised. The black and purple mech nodded excitedly and clapped his servos a little, flashing a [ : D ] in his visor.

The white, silver and red mechling giggled once more and began to crawl closer to the Communications Officer, careful to go around the pile of cubes as to not knock them off. Soundwave watched intently, until the little sparkling finally stopped at his pedes and let his frame drop, hugging his leg and chirping lovingly as he flared his EM field with love and apreciation.

Soundwave was a little surprised at first, but then he flared his own EM field and took the sparkling in his arms and bringing him closer to his chest, the little one snuggling his helm in the crook of the spymaster's neck. He chirped and mewled all the time, almost in the same way as he had done with his Carrier.

He felt a small ping of sadness curse through him at the thought of being a creator figure to the mechling. He didn't have the experience to raise a sparkling, not even his Sire had. Decepticons weren't jusy fit to raise sparklings, that's all. Well, at least not the ones that were on board the Nemesis.

He just hoped that Megatron wouldn't mould him into a cold-sparked warrior like him.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, followed by some muffled words. "Soundwave, it's me! Starscream!"

The black and purple mech got up from the floor without dropping Sunlit, walking over to the entrance of the warlord's chambers and sliding the doors open, stepping aside to let the seeker walk in.

"I just finished my duties. Those damn Vehicons don't know a thing about writing reports..." he mumbled angrily, his wings twitching in annoyance. His red gaze suddenly fell from the spymaster's visor to the little mechling in his arms, a wide smile instantly appearing on his face. He walked around the older mech and peeked at the sparkling, who lifted his gaze and fluttered his external wings happily upon seing the silver mech.

"Hello there, little one. I hope you haven't caused too much trouble to Soundwave while I arrived" he motioned to the sparkling while looking at Soundwave, as if asking permission to hold him. The silent mech nodded and handled the sparkling to him, who carefully caught his little body with his clawed hands.

"Aw, who's a little good mechling? Yes you are, yes you are!" He cooed sweetly as he tickled Sunlit's face and belly, earning some happy giggles and squeaks from him. "Alright, leave him to me, Soundwave. I will take care of him while you do your reports."

This time, the spymaster objected. He shook his helm slowly from side to side, pointed a slim finger to his chestplate and then to the ground. Starscream snorted and rolled his optics. "What, don't you think I'm capable of looking after a sparkling?"

The black and purple mech just stared at him with his blank visor. Starscream huffed annoyingly and said, "Fine, you can stay. But don't blame me if Sunlit distracts you too much to work!"

Soundwave flashed a [ > : ) ] in his visor and stepped aside, heading towards their leader's berthroom once again. He hoped he wouldn't mind him borrowing his computer for a while.

Meanwhile, Starscream walked over and sat down on the middle of the berth cross-legged, sitting Sunlit in front of him. He lowered his upper body a little so he could be within the sparkling's reach. "Where's the little sparkling? Wheeeere's the little sparkling...?" He began cooing as he covered his optics with his servos, before uncovering them quickly while exclaiming "There he is!"

Sunlit laughed in pure glee, clapping his little servos as the seeker covered his face again and began cooing. "Where's the sparkling? Where's little Sunlit?" He trailed for a bit before uncovering his optics again. "There he is!!!"

Starscream laughed to himself and suddenly picked the white, silver and red mechling up, bouncing him in his arms before he let himself drop on the berth on his back, throwing the sparkling up in the air at a low height and catching him. Sunlit just laughed even more, enjoying the feeling of being up in the air. Well, of course he enjoyed it, he was a flier, after all.

Soundwave didn't pay attention at all to what were the two other's doing, silently writing away his report in Lord Megatron's computer. Meanwhile, Starscream threw the sparkling up in the air and caught him one last time before sitting up and hugging the little one close as he pressed his intake to the back of his neck and started making weird noises.

Sunlit kept laughing and squirming in the older's mechs grasp as the new sensation was tickling his sensitive armor, accidentaly delivering a kick to the other's abdominal plates. Starscream just let out a grunt of discomfort and waved it off, turning the sparkling around and finally pressing him to his chest in a warm hug. The little one nuzzled his smooth plating while chirping and squeaking all the time, offlining his optics as he got lost in the warmth of the usually-bitchy seeker.

Starscream sighed lovingly and placed a soft kiss to the little one's helm, slowly lowering his own frame until he was lying on his back on the large berth, holding Sunlit close to him as he rubbed his back in a soothing way and gently caressed his external wings.

He never thought he would say this, but he _loved_  sparklings! Especially Sunlit; he was just so cute and innocent that you couldn't help but love him! Maybe he should consider having a sparkling of his own in the future...

They just laid there for a while, enjoying the warmth and affection each other had to give while their energy fields flared with love. It was a very comforting feeling, but Starscream knew he was nothing but a caretaker to the little mechling, and if he saw him as a creator figure it would certainly be wrong. As much as he loved him, Megatron was his Sire, and so he had to look up at _him_  as a creator figure.

"Soundwave..." The seeker weakly called as to not disturb either mech. The spymaster stopped typing and turned around to face the Air Commander, flashing a [ ? ] in his visor. "Do you think he misses his Carrier?"

The black and purple mech's helm dropped a little in sadness. It still pained him the idea of him forgetting the most important mech in his life, the one that had brought him to this world. Well, as long as they reminded him of the Autobot with the single recording he had, he supposed it all would be fine.

" _I don't know,_ " he played a recording of one of the Vehicons' conversation. " _the only thing we can do is hope for the best_."

Starscream hummed thoughtfully, a frown displayed on his face as he thought about that Autobot. Even _he_  knew how hard it must be to have your newborn creation snatched away. It certainly hadn't been the greatest decision Megatron had made, but there was no turning back. What's done is done, and now their duty was to take care of Sunlit, the Decepticon leader's heir.

Soft mewling amd whimpering pulled him out of his thoughts; looking down he saw the little sparkling nuzzling and pawing his chestplates as he licked his little lips. "Are you hungry, little one?" Starscream sent the command to fill his internal feeding pouches with processed energon so they were ready when Sunlit had got comfortable to refuel.

He carefully shifted himself until he was laying on his side, using a servo to steady his helm as he laid Sunlit down next to him. Parts of his chestplate armor slid aside, revealing a pair of small nubs already leaking a small drop of blue energon. Sunlit's tanks rumbled loudly, making Starscream chuckle. "Jusy hold on a nano-klik, little one, and your fuel will be ready."

Although he knew he could refuel with bottles, he preferred to feed him with his own energon just to tighten the bond. If he was going to stay in this ship, he'd better make him trust him, right? Also, he looked simply _adorable_  when he refueled, and it was best to enjoy the moment while he could since Megatron would _never_  allow him to feed his son with his own pouches.

An internal message in his helm notified him that his pouches were full and that he was ready to feed the sparkling. He carefully brought Sunlit closer to him and lifted his little helm upwards, the little one's intake mouthing around for a while before he finally found the rubbery nub and started suckling happily.

Starscream shuddered a little at the feeling but didn't protest. In the meantime, he subspaced a datapad so he could entertain himself while the little one refueled, the warm flow of energon inside him relaxing him considerably.

Sunlit didn't separate his gaze from the silver mech's face at any moment, even if he wasn't paying attention to him. He hoped he could grab one of his digits like when he had been fed by his Carrier and that other time with Soundwave, but since he couldn't reach the seeker's servos, he just closed his little fist on a seam he found hidden on his plating.

His little tanks were slowly filled with sweet enriched energon, warming him up as well. He depleted the first pouch in almost no time, struggling a little to reach the other nub before he received help from a gentle servo that lifted him until he was comfortable.

The seeker slowly felt himself drifting into recharge; the silence in the room aside from Soundwave's typing and the steady thrum of his engines as well as the warmth of Sunlit's little frame was relaxing him a whole lot. He struggled to stay awake, onlining his optics abruptly when he felt he was going to give up just to repeat the same action for several cycles.

Almost fifteen cycles later Sunlit was finished, licking the last drop of energon off his lips with a chirp. He looked up to the seeker and found he was in recharge. He slid himself off the silver mech's frame and settled down next to him, opening his little intake wide as he yawned. He blinked his optics a little before snuggling closer to his caretaker and falling into recharge himself.

Soundwave suddenly wondered what had happened with those two since everything had gone quiet, turning around and feeling his spark flutter with cuteness at the sight of the Air Commander snuggled up with Megatron's heir, recharging peacefully on the wide and comfy berth.

His Autobot Carrier may not be here, but Soundwave and Starscream would certainly make sure he was well-taken care of while they lived.


	12. Autobots to the Rescue

"Hey guys! My computer has just received a Cybertronian signal not that far from here" Raf called out, typing in the coordinates as all the other Autobots -minus Ratchet- gathered around the tiny human. Knock Out bent closer and narrowed his optics so he could get a better look. "It's a Decepticon signal!"

"Are you sure, Knock Out? It's like- well, it could be anyone, you know. Maybe Ultra Magnus or Jazz or Prowl..." Bumblebee trailed a little, counting the names with his fingers. "No, that's definetely _not_  the Elite Guard. I recognize a Decepticon signal when I see it. And I can tell you 'bots that _that_  is the Nemesis." He placed a hand on his hip and pointed a clawed finger towards the computer.

Everyone gasped in surprise and started exchanging words and worried looks, giving nervous glances at Ratchet, who was still sitting lonely in his corner bench like he had been doing during the last few days.

"Autobots, the day has come. It's time to do our duty and bring Ratchet's sparkling back. Everyone, get prepared for battle." Optimus commanded firmly, his back straightened up and his optics full of determination. Everyone nodded and went to retrieve their blades, fusion cannons and other weapons while the children took their places as they had been ordered.

Ratchet was staring at the floor with a sad gaze. Little by little he could feel the bond fading away, and he feared that his little Sunlit would forget him one day. Or worse, what if he forgot about his little one?!

A single round tear formed on his left optic and he let it flow with a sob, not even caring to hide it or clean it away. Nothing meant anything for him right now. He just wanted his son back, was that too much to ask?

He felt a warm servo resting on his shoulder, but he already knew whose servo it was, so he didn't even look up at him. "Ratchet," Optimus' voice rumbled gently. "We have received a Decepticon signal, my old friend. It is time to go and save your son."

Just then Ratchet turned his gaze up to handsome silver features, optics slightly wide with incredibleness and mouth slightly agape. "A-Are you sure? Is... Is my little Sunlit in there?"

Optimus' face suddenly was painted with sadness. "I can't assure you anything right now, my friend. But it's time to carry out our plan and do our best to get Sunlit back to you. Now, will you come with us or you'd rather stay in the base?"

Ratchet's dulled optics suddenly lit up, narrowing with agressive determination. He stood up in an instant, attaching his mighty blade to his arm before turning to face Optimus again. "I'm going to get my son back even if it's _the last thing I do."_

Optimus gave a happy and determined smirk and offered a servo to the medic, who took it and squeezed it in a sign of camaraderie.

"We're ready!" Smokescreen called out, waving his servo. All the Autobots were prepared with their weapons and were well-trained enough, and the children were prepared as well, Raf with his computer already secretly infiltrating the Nemesis' security cameras, Miko and Jack near the ground bridge generator and with agent Fowler's phone number in case they needed it.

Optimus gave one last triumphant look at his team, proud of them for being so cooperative and helpful, before turning around and walking towards the base entrance.

"Autobots, transform and roll out!"

* * *

"Lord Megatron, sir, I have detected an Autobot signal not too far from the ship's perimeter." Steve informed to Megatron, twisting his body to look up at the warlord even if he was staring at the big screen in the other side of the Control Room. "Is it too close to our territory?"

"No, my Lord. At least not close enough for them to see our current task." The drone replied. "Very well," Megatron rumbled, turning around to look at the other screen where Steve was working. "Keep an optic on it either way, we wouldn't want them to steal more precious energon from our recently-discovered mine."

The visored mech nodded and continued his previous task before the Autobot signal came in. Autobots, now, and here? What would they want now? _Maybe they're looking for that stupid medic_ the warlord thought.

He really wasn't in the mood for fighting but if they tried to play some funny tricks, he could easily crush them with a servo tied to his back.

* * *

"Do you think they have seen us already?" Bumblebee asked to the other scout, who was drinking off a can of cheap oil he found scattered in the base. "Probably, but let's get closer just to make sure." He gave one last gulp before throwing it behind his back, the slim metal cilinder falling to the dirt ground with a high-pitched 'clang'.

They silently walked a few meters closer before they got a better glimpse at the ship, which was hovering in the air, not exactly flying but with enough height as to not be reached by anybody from the ground. There was a small but sturdy ladder hanging from the bottom, and there were several Vehicons guarding the perimeter with their fusion cannons in hand.

"Smokey, look!" The black and yellow mech suddenly stopped his companion with his arm, pressing it to his chest before pointing at the drones in the distance. "Vehicons. They seem to be guarding the ship."

"You're right" Smokescreen agreed. "Do you think that we'll gather enough attention if we attack them?"

"I'm not sure," Bumblebee scratched his helm. "Don't you think they are too many for us to handle?" The yellow and blue mech snorted. "Please! We're Autobots, nothing is too much or too many for us. C'mon, let's kick some Decepticon afts!" He was ready to sprint at them and transform his arm into his fusion cannon before the other scout stopped him. "No, we should ask Prime first."

"Aw, come on, Bee! Or don't tell me you're afraid of some mindless drones?" He began teasing with a smirk, nudging the other with his elbow. "No, I'm not scared!" Bumblebee narrowed his optics and perked his doorwings up in defense.

"Well, it looks like _you_  are..."

"Smokescreen, do I have to remind you that if anyone screws up it's going to put at risk everyone's lives?" The yellow scout suddenly snapped, pulling one of the other's doorwings in warning. "We are doing this to get Ratchet's sparkling back, not just to hunt some Decepticons down! Now, we are going to ask Prime if it's safe to approach _wether you like it or not!_ "

Smokescreen growled out a 'fine' before shaking the other's servo off him. "Jeez, sometimes you behave like my Sire." Bumblebee just rolled his optics and reached to his audial with his digits.

[Optimus, sir? From the spot we are in we can see a group of armed Vehicons. It looks like they're guarding the ship, is it safe to approach and maybe _provoke_  them so we get a little more attention?]

[Very well, Bumblebee. Just let me know your coordinates so we can be ready to give you back up when it's necessary.] The Prime replied from his secret hiding spot.

[Of course. Thank you, sir.]

[No problem, young scout. Proceed with precaution.]

Both mechs cut the connection and Bumblebee charged up the blasters in his arms. "So what did he say?" Smokescreen asked. The yellow Camaro just gave him a smirk and and nudged his side playfully. "Let's kick some Decepticon afts, Smokey!"

* * *

This day was _so_ boring. This was the worst part of being a Vehicon, when they found an unexploited energon mine, you had to stand up and guard the damm ship all day.

All the Vehicons were calm, so far not expecting any threat or danger. Pit, why did Megatron sent them to guard the Nemesis, anyways?

Suddenly there was a loud noise coming from the distance and one of the drones fell to the floor with a pained cry, dropping his fusion cannon and instantly offlining. The rest of the Vehicons startled and gave the fallen drone a quick glance before looking up to see what had killed their companion.

There were more blaster sounds filling the air and the drones were quickly offlining one by one, even if they were shooting their fusion cannons back. It just didn't help to have such a bad aim.

Smokescreen and Bumblebee came running to them, arms transformed into blasters as they kept shooting at the drones and avoiding their shots. More Vehicons came running towards them, some of them not using any weapon but seeking for some body-to-body combat.

Bumblebee retracted his fusion cannons for a moment before delivering a hard punch to one of the drones right in the abdominal plates, then grabbing him by the neck and knocking him out for good with a blow to his helm.

Smokescreen, on the other hand, kept shooting the ones still far away enough to receive a facefull of blaster, watching one by one collapse to the floor, offline or almost offline.

The air was filled with the clangs of metal, blaster sounds and cries as the two young scouts fought their way near the perimeter of the ship, feeling better than ever now that they had a chance to fight some Decepticons without any help and that weren't just some training mannequins.

The yellow Camaro grabbed a drone by the waist and spun him around a couple of times before throwing hin into a boulder, wincing a little at the cry of pain he emitted. Smokescreen kicked off some more drones that had gotten too near to him with a triumphant growl.

Suddenly there was a drone clinging to Bumblebee's neck, practically choking him. The scout began coughing and gasping for air as he clawed at the other's slim arms, trying to buck him off of himself. "S-Smokescreen... Gah, h-help.. !"

The blue and yellow mech came running and threw himself at the Vehicon, pulling him by the waist and succesfully ripping him off his companion. With a hard kick to his helm he knocked the slim mech out. "Are you okay?" He asked, patting the other's shoulder.

Bumblebee barely had time to nod before three more Vehicons were on them, pinning them to the floor and delivering several punches to their faces and chest, even one managed to crack one of Smokescreen's optics.

"Ngh- this is t-too much! We- Aargh! We need backup!" The yellow and blue sports car managed to grunt between blows, earning a small nod from the black and yellow Camaro before he lifted himself up as much as he could, took a deep vent and...

"COME OUT, NOW!!!"

There was nothing for a few seconds before Optimus and Bulkhead jumped out from practically nowhere and threw themselves at the three Vehicons, Bulkhead roughly yanking and throwing them away, not really caring where they ended up.

Optimus began shooting at the Vehicons who were running towards them, succesfully offlining or at least severly injuring them. Bulkhead lifted up some heavy boulders and threw them at the purple mechs, managing to squish small unfortunate groups.

This gave enough time for the two scouts to get up and quickly recover, bringing their blasters out one more time and joining the heated battle.

* * *

"Lord Megatron, the Autobots are attacking our mechs on guard!" Steve cried out nervously, expecting a punch or something worse from the stronger mech. "Can't they deal with them? For Primus sake, they are like thirty or more!" Megatron grumbled dangerously.

"S-Sir..." the drone stammered, clicking his fingers together. "Optimus Prime is down there."

Megatron's optics flashed dangerously before he narrowed them. His engines rumbled in anger and hate, and his servos curled into fists so tightly that the metal began to screech. "Don't send any more drones," he commanded. "I will deal with the Prime _myself_."

* * *

Optimus took down the last drone with his fusion cannon, relieved to see that no more drones were comming out and silently pleading that Megatron would just come out and leave the ship unattended.

"Well done, Autobots. It certainly has been-"

"PRIME!"

A deep and dark voice rumbled from the sky, making the four Autobots turn around and start looking for the source. There was a loud 'thud' and the ground began to shake slightly as the Decepticon leader landed a few meters away from the Autobots.

"Megatron" Optimus said flatly. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"Don't pretend to be a fool, Prime." Megatron snapped. "This is  _my_  ship, why wouldn't I be in here?"

"Because you have better things to do other than killing and attacking my mechs." The red and blue mech stood up protectively in front of the other 'bots, silently telling Megatron to stay away from them.

"You know killing and attacking your scum race is my _pleasure_." The warlord gave a dangerous grin, baring sharp and pointy denta.

The two archenemies just stared at eachother for a while, discreetly charging up their fusion cannons and glaring at eachother so deeply they though their gazes alone would melt their protoform again.

With one quick motion, the warlord began running towards them, shooting hard plasma energy balls at them that they barely had time to dodge. Optimus lifted his own cannon as well, clamping down his battle mask and shooting up at him. Smokescreen and Bumblebee joined after, although they were hidden behind some rocks to protect themselves from the deadly shots.

Bulkhead threw big rocks and boulders at him from different angles and directions just to confuse him, asides from hurting him obviously, while Prime was trying to distract him and make him go far away enough from his precious ship so the other part of the plan could be carried out.

[Just a few meters more, Autobots] Optimus silently told the other three mechs over his thier comm. links. [We need to make him back away from the ship as much as we can so the others can infiltrate it.]

[You got it, sir!] Smokescreen replied.

[No problem, sir!] Bumblebee answered.

[We'll do our best, as always] Bulkhead tried to sound excited and determined, but it was hard when you had just thrown a 76 kg rock.

"Wow, you sure are slow to be a _mighty_ ex-gladiator!" Smokescreen teased from afar, grinning when the warlord turned to look into his direction. "Don't force yourself too much, you might strain something. But if you want to prove yourself..." he jumped and transformed into his alt mode mid-air, landing not-so-gracefully before speeding off and leaving a small cloud of dust behind him. "Catch me if you can!"

The warlord let out an angered snarl and began pacing off after the yellow and blue mech, shortly followed by Optimus, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, who were still attacking him with his blasters and rocks.

* * *

[Megatron has left the ship guys, you can enter!] Raf announced through an improvised comm. link in his computer, connected to Arcee's, Ratchet's and Knock Out's comm. frequencies.

[Are you sure?] The blue motorbike asked.

[Yep, 100% sure! He's at least seven hundred meters away from the ship.]

Arcee sighed and motioned the other two mechs to follow, easily sneaking towards the sturdy ladder now that there wasn't anyone to guard it.

Knock Out climbed up first, him being the ex-Decepticon and thus knowing how to move around the Nemesis, followed by Ratchet and Arcee. They all entered a dark corridor, barely lit up by purple lights. "Wow, you Decepticons sure are fans of black and purple." Arcee commented softly.

"I obviously prefer red or silver, but not my decision, anyways" Knock Out shrugged, transforming his arm into his saw just for good measure. Ratchet and Arcee did the same, trying to look as small as possible. "Where should we start looking?" Ratchet asked.

"I'm not really sure... Knowing Megatron, Sunlit could be _anywhere_ in this ship." The red Aston Martin said, looking around carefully as they walked along the corridor. [Rafael, can you see anything from the security cameras?]

[Hm... not really, but I can tell at least that there are no drones or any Decepticons near you. You can proceed without worry.] The young boy affirmed through the comm. link.

"Are you sure my little Sunlit is here?" Ratchet asked nervously, feeling Arcee's servo on his shoulder and receiving a warm smile from her in reassurance. He smiled back before turning back to Knock Out. "I'm not sure either, but the most probable answer is yes." He looked over his shoulder and met the medic's fearful gaze. "If Megatron hadn't wanted the sparkling he would have given him to you when he kicked you out."

Ratchet sighed. Maybe Knock Out was right; he had been a Decepticon, after all. But still, it didn't help that such a sweet and defenseless creature ended up in the Decepticon leader's clutches!

"Now, where would I put a sparkling if I were Megatron?" Knock Out mused to himself, clicking his claws on his chin as he thought. The three Autobots paced through the ship almost carelessly, following the ex-Decepticon without a second thought. "Maybe he just gave the sparkling to someone else since he isn't capable of taking care of one."

"For Primus' sake, Knock Out! You're not helping!" Ratchet snapped, not as loud as to alert of their prescence but loud enough to sound firm. The Aston Martin raised his arms up in defense and flinched a little. "Don't blame me! I'm just saying the possible things that might have happened!"

"Enough, you two." Arcee stopped them with a glare and a firm tone. "We're not here to argue, we're here to retrieve Ratchet's son and get back to the base as soon as possible."

The two mechs huffed but nodded anyways. They renewed their pacing through the ship, follwing Knock Out's orders and knocking out the occassional drones that showed up on their way. The walked for a long time, peeked through many doors and avoided many Decepticons, and yet no signs of Sunlit.

"I didn't expect for Megatron to be- wait, did you hear that?" Knock Out was cut mid-speech, raising a servo to stop the other two Autobots behind him. Arcee and Ratchet stilled as well, increasing their audio receptors' sensitivity to better hear whatever Knock Out had just heard.

A few seconds passed and suddenly there was a little squeak echoing through the dark halls of the Nemesis, something that wasn't supposed to be in the ship. "Was that...?" Arcee trailed.

"Could it be?" Ratchet asked, completely stunned and full of hope. He began to walk in the direction where the innocent sound came from, mindlessly of any other Decepticons that might see him.

"Ratchet, wait!" Knock Out silently yelled, but that didn't stop him. He kept pacing without any direction in mind before he brought two digits to his audial fin.

[Rafael, can you see any signs of a sparkling nearby?]

[Um... not _exactly_  of a sparkling, but I'm currently watching a room that looks suspicious. It looks like... a _nursery_?]

The medic's optics flashed and his plating perked up. [A nursery?! Where?! Lead me to it!]

[Walk about five meters forward and then you should see a...]

Ratchet began desperately following the child's orders, ignoring Arcee's and Knock Out's calls and pleads to stop, just walking through the dark corridors and looking for the so called nursery Raf admitted to see.

After chasing the old mech for a while, he suddenly came to a halt in front of a big door. Arcee and Knock Out finally reached him, panting and gasping for air. "You sure are fast for someone your age..." the Aston Martin breathed out.

Ratchet released his audial fin and came closer to the big door, pressing the side of his helm against it to see if he could hear anything. There was a low rattling noise... muffled by the strong walls of the ship. It was almost as if someone was shaking a toy around, one of those filled with little plastic beads to entertain a young sparkling or in human terms, a 'baby'.

His spark froze when he heard another little chirp followed by a happy and innocent giggle...

"He's in here! My son is in here!" He cried out, looking at Knock Out and Arcee with pleading optics, begging them to help him knock the door down and save his precious sparkling.

Knock Out raised a servo and silently signaled the medic to calm down, before pressing his own helm to the door and listening for a while. He widened his optics and stood up straight, looking at the other two Autobots with a stunned gaze. "He... He _really_  is in there..."

"What are we waiting for?! We need to save him!" Ratchet suddenly threw himself at the door, looking for the seams and trying to pull them aside. "Woah, calm down, Ratchet! This doors could activate an alarm when forcefully opened." He pushed Ratchet backwards gently with his servo. "Please, let me take care of this." He gave him a reassuring smile.

Arcee held the old and anxious medic by his shoulders, whispering soothing words of encouragement. The white and red mech could only stare at her with wide pleading optics, holding her servo in his own shaky one as Knock Out fiddled with the lock.

The Aston Martin kneeled down and began typing in different sets of numbers, surprisingly succeeding the first time. The door slid open and revealed a dimly lit room (most like the rest of the ship), and they could barely make out the shape of the furniture inside it.

"Wow, it looks like Megatron hadn't even bothered to change his security codes." Knock Out chuckled to himself. Ratchet was already struggling against Arcee's grip as he just wanted to go in there and take his little sparkling at last. "Hey, hey! Calm down, warrior. We need to proceed with precaution here. You wouldn't want any of us or your _sparkling_  to end up hurt, right?"

The medic suddenly stiffened. She was right. He was very, _very_  close to saving his son and he couldn't back up right now. Giving a low huff he nodded to the blue and pink femme, transforming his arm into his blade again and slowly stepping inside the room.

Knock Out and Arcee let him be at the front, since he was the Carrier and most likely he would sense the sparkling's prescence through their bond, but still stayed close enough in case something or someone decided to attack.

Ratchet increased his audios' sensitivity as well as his optics', the least thing he could do now was to trip on something and alert everyone on the ship of their prescence. He looked around carefully, making out the shape of a small couch and a large basket full of what had to be some colorful unidentified objects. It was strange; why would Decepticons keep a room like this?

Then there was something presented in front of him. It looked like a cage, although the top part was missing, and at the bottom there could be seen something like fabric. There could be heard some shuffling and ruffling noises coming from it. Ratchet stilled himself, ready to attack if necessary as he approached the strange piece of furniture with distrust.

He slowly peeked on the cage, and his spark seemed to stop.

Two giant blue optics staring up at him, a little silver, white and red protoform squirming on the soft padding of the crib as the litte thing suckled on his finger and fluttered his external wings happily.

Ratchet suddenly felt a massive wave of energy cursing through his frame, especially in his spark. Something he had believed as lost forever...

The bond had activated again.

This was his little Sunlit.

Ratchet felt tears welding up in his optics and let out a happy sob, earning a cute chirp from the bitlet. Oh yes, this _definetely_  was _his_ Sunlit. He transformed his blade back into his servo and began to reach into the crib to pick up his little boy, before-

"Stand back,  _Autobots_ "

A deep and raspy voice suddenly erupted from nowhere, as well as the sound of a blaster charging up. The three Autobots turned to look at the source of the noise and their vents hitched when they saw both Soundwave _and_ Starscream pointing their guns at them.

"What do you think you're doing with Lord Megatron's heir?" Starscream asked as he glared coldly at them. Ratchet -once again- transformed his servo into his blade and Arcee activated her blasters, and Knock Out transformed his servo into his saw.

"Megatron's heir? I think 'Ratchet's creation' is a more appropriate term, Screamer." The ex-Decepticon chided, giving a proud and teasing smirk at the seeker. Starscream glared at him for a moment before smirking devilishly at him as well.

"Well, well, well... If it isn't the _traitor_." His wings perked up defiantly, placing a servo on his hip as he still pointed at them with his blaster with the other one. "Tell me, Knock Out, how does it feel to be an Autobot scum? To have become someone you swore you'd never be?"

"It will feel even better when I shove my saw up your aft" He continued teasing, seeming completely fearless. He stood up in front of the other two Autobots, ready and determined to protect them at all cost. "I wouldn't have expected our dear medic becoming and Autobot fan in such little time... what a waste." The seeker growled the three last words with so much hate that Ratchet felt as if they were pure acid.

"Well, I'm my own mech, Starscream. Unlike _others_ , who just like to be playing tricks and fooling around on anyone." The Aston Martin smirked even more defiantly than before, making the silver mech growl in frustration. "You're calling me the despicable one?! At least I'm not trying to snatch Lord Megatron's heir from his own ship..."

"He isn't Megatron's! Sunlit is _mine!"_  Ratchet suddenly barked up, standing proudly behind Knock Out. "And _you_ were the ones who snatched him from  _me."_

They both knew, Starscream and Soundwave knew all of that was true, and as much as they wanted Sunlit to be back with his Carrier, they were sure Megatron would kill them if they allowed it. So they had to play for a little bit before they could pretend to be defeated and let the Autobots get away.

"Well, I think I've got a better idea..." Starscream chuckled darkly as he paced a little forward and around the group of Autobots, getting closer to Sunlit's crib. "If this sparkling isn't Megatron's... then it won't be yours either!" He charged and pointed his blaster right at the crib, ready to shoot.

"NO!!!" Everyone cried out, but before they could stop him, the seeker directed his blaster from the crib to a dark and tiny corner in the ceiling in a quick motion, shooting and apparently destroying what had to be a security camera. Soundwave did the same, although he pointed towards the corner at the other side of the room.

"Is it done?" Starscream asked quietly to the spymaster, who stilled for a while before nodding slowly. Starscream nodded back and turned to look at the Autobots with a worried gaze. "You need to get out of here. Take your sparkling, medic. Before Megatron comes back."

The three Autobots froze in their place. They hadn't recovered from the previous shock yet and were confused about everything. "I-Is this a kind of trap?!" Arcee snarled, already charging her blaster and pointing at the two mechs.

Both Starscream and Soundwave dropped their weapons and raised their arms to show they were no threat and that they just wanted to help. "Of course not!" The seeker protested. "Have you got an idea of how much does Sunlit miss his carrier? And either way, Megatron would _never_  be capable of giving all the love and attention you Autobots certainly can."

Arcee narrowed her optics, as if considering the seeker's words. "Is that true?" She asked, turning to look at Knock Out. The Aston Martin stared at Starscream's optics. He knew very well when he was lying and when he was telling the truth. But right now there was no mischievous glint in that crimson light, and his frame looked as normal as it could be. Also, his wings didn't twitch in nervousness. They were held high and totally still.

"I think he's telling the truth" he finally concluded. The seeker smiled weakly at them, but it was a sincere smile, not those devilish smirks he would usually use on Vehicons and even Megatron. "Now, quick! Grab your sparkling and get out of here!"

Ratchet didn't waste a second on taking Sunlit from the crib and wrapping him in a soft blanket. Knock Out subspaced a few toys and useful things he found scattered around, while Arcee reached for her audial fin to contact Prime.

[Optimus, it's Arcee. We have Sunlit.]

[Good job, Arcee. Be careful when getting out of the ship. We'll be there shortly to meet up and get back to the base.]

[Of course. Arcee out.]

[Optimus Prime out.]

"Now how are we supposed to get out without being noticed by the drones quickly?" Ratchet asked, gently bouncing his sparkling on his arms with a worried expression. "I pretty much believe the only way out is the same where we entered" Knock Out mused.

"Soundwave, deactivate the security cameras." Starscream ordered the spymaster, who gave a single nod and gave the command across his comm. link. All the security cameras shut down quietly, hoping that neither the Vehicons or Megatron noticed. "We'll help you get out, but you need to understand this" the seeker walked closer and grabbed Knock Out by the shoulders, looking directly into his optics. "You are escaping with the sparkling, and we are trying to stop you."

Knock Out stared into his optics for a while before giving a firm nod. "Autobots, let's get out of here!" Everyone bolted out of the room, with Arcee, Ratchet and Knock Out at the front with Starscream and Soundwave at their heels.

Soon they heard some pedesteps echoing in the halls, most likely a Vehicon, and the two Decepticons charged their weapons and began shooting at the Autobots, but being careful not to _actually_  hurt them.

"You fools! They are escaping! Come and do something!" Starscream screeched, gathering the attention of a couple of drones, who quickly went to grab their own blasters and join the persecution.

They were halfway there when Knock Out received a shot in his shoulderplates, hissing with pain as energon began seeping from the wound. The two other Autobots looked at him with worried expressions, but he just shrugged them off. "I"m fine, just keep running!"

The light comming from the bottom entrance to the ship was visible now, and before they could get another shot on their frames, the three Autobots practically jumped down the ladder. As soon as they were back on the dirt ground of the desert, they could see Prime, Bulkhead, Bumblebee and Smokescreen already driving closer and closer to where they were, Megatron shortly following.

[Jack, Miko, we need a bridge! Quickly!] Arcee commanded across her comm. link, hoping the two young earthlings actually heard her and were doing the job right.

Meanwhile, Starscream had transformed into his alt mode and was shooting at the Autobots high from the sky, intentionally failing with every shot. A group of Vehicons evacuated the ship and had joined to the battle alongside Megatron, who was already a little tired but determined to finish those Autobot scums.

Then, his optics widened.

He spotted the white and red plating of that _hateful_ medic, and he could see that there was a small wriggling bundle in his arms...

They were trying to steal _his_  sparkling!

Megatron directed his blaster towards Ratchet specifically, and the medic barely had the time to dodge him. Everyone began to shoot at Megatron and try to cover Ratchet and Sunlit, wondering in frustration what was taking so long for the children to open the bridge.

Much to their relief, a few meters away from the battle a green orb of energy started to surge, growing larger and larger until it formed a portal. The Autobots began running even faster, one by one entering the bridge as the ones still on the desert kept fighting the warlord away.

Megatron was a few pedesteps away from Prime, the only one left to enter the bridge, and he certainly _wasn't_  going to let him escape. Running closer and closer he tried to reach with his servo something, _anywhere_  on his body that he could grab and pull him back into the battlefield. But as soon as his claws scraped the blue and red metal, the Prime disappeared into the bridge and this one succesfully closed.

Megatron lost his balance and landed on his knees on the dirt floor, his whole frame trembling with rage and exhaustion. His vents hitched as he started venting harder and harder, his optics blazing with fury.

The only audible thing for a while were Megatron's roars of rage and defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> -Rolling_girl27


	13. Love of a Mother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, here's another chapter! Yay!
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Rolling_girl27

"Oh Sunlit, my dear, my little Sunlit!" Ratchet cried cheerfully as he bounced his sparkling in his arms, the little mechling giggling happily and sending wave after wave of love through the carrier-creation bond. Everyone in the base looked worn out, but they all wore a smile on their faces. They had never seen Ratchet so happy before!

"Good job, Autobots." Optimus praised triumphantly with a smile and his servos on his hips. "Thanks to your bravery, Sunlit is back with Ratchet and no one got hurt in the process."

"Well, I beg to differ..." Knock Out called out loud, pain clearly intertwined in his voice. Everyone turned to look at the young medic and gasped when they saw the horrible injury in his shoulder. "Knock Out, you're hurt!" Bumblebee gasped, already stomping closer to him to get a better look.

"No, no, don't worry about me! I'm fine!" He waved a servo to show that he didn't need any help. "In case you forgot, I'm a medic too. I can take care of myself, you enjoy your victory for now!" He gave the rest of the Autobots a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

Ratchet smiled back at him before turning to his son. "Well, I think this isn't entirely necessary, but Autobots," he raised Sunlit a little in the air. "this is my son, Sunlit." The little sparkling made a gurgling noise and his big blue optics flashed, making almost all the Autobots and children in the base coo at him.

"He certainly is a cute little guy!" Smokescreen praised, walking closer and gently rubbing the sparkling's cheek with his digit. "Hello, Sunlit! I'm Smokescreen, the most awesome mech you'll ever meet in your life!"

Ratchet rolled his optics good-heartedly. Primus, this kid was never going to grow up, was he? "But you can call me uncle Smokey." The blue and yellow mech winked at the little mechling, earning a happy giggle from him.

"...and I'm uncle Bee!" Bumblebee shoved the other mech aside and presented himself in front of the sparkling, jerking a thumb at his chest proudly. "We're going to be the best uncles you'll ever have!"

"Aw... Can I get a closer look? Pleeeaaase?" Miko suddenly jumped out, begging to see the sparkling. Ratchet kneeled and held Sunlit as close to the floor as he could although not entirely setting him on the flat surface. Even when he was a sparkling he was _much_ bigger than the little human girl, but that didn't stop her from cooing at the mechling.

"Aw... He's so cute! Hi Sunlit! I'm Miko, and I'll be your big sister!" The human girl waved her hand at the sparkling, who just blinked his optics in confusion at the strange creature in front of him. "Primus forbids that." Ratchet chuckled playfully, getting back to his pedes again.

"So this is how a Cybertronian baby looks like?" Raf asked in fascination, pushing his glasses up with his fingers. Ratchet nodded and the little boy gasped. "That's awesome! I never thought Cybertronians had human children equivalents."

"Ratchet, if I may ask, who is the mother of the... um..." Jack started talking but trailed as he wasn't sure what term to use, until Miko leaned closer and whispered 'sparkling' to his ear. "Sparkling, right! Can you tell us who is the mother?"

All the Autobots in the room exchanged some awkward glances while the children stared at them with expecting eyes. "It's a complicated story, guys. We'll tell you when you're older." Bulkhead said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and trying to avoid looking at Miko's pout.

"I'll let you have the rest of this solar-cycle for yourselves, team. You deserve a good rest for today's effort." Optimus said calmly, smiling when his fellow Autobots cheered and some of them threw their arms in the air. "Who wants to celebrate with some high-grade energon?!" Smokescreen asked aloud excitedly.

"Don't even think about getting overcharged" Arcee chided, smirking at the young mech.

"Hey! Save some high-grade for me!" Knock Out called out at the Autobots leaving the main room as he cut off some blown cables from his shoulder.

"What's 'high-grade'?" Miko asked to the two boys, who both shrugged. "Anyways, if they can have whatever thing they mentioned... Does that mean we can have some junk food as well, Optimus?" The little girl came running to Optimus' pedes with the best puppy eyes she managed to make.

The blue and red mech smiled and nodded. "Yes, but don't overindulge yourselves."

The three children cheered and went running after the rest of the Autobots with a happy smile on their faces.

* * *

"He's so beautiful..." Optimus brushed his servo gently over Sunlit's helm, smiling warmly at the way the little sparkling giggled and mewled happily, waving his little arms in the air and sometimes kicking his pedes under the blanket.

"...like you." He concluded, bringing his gaze up to meet Ratchet's own with a smile. The medic blushed a little and smiled back but looked down at his creation. He was right, Sunlit was perfect in every possible way. He didn't care he was half-Decepticon; he was _his_  son and that's what matters, nothing more.

"He will grow to achieve great things..." He lifted his gaze and met Optimus' own. "...like you."

Optimus smiled back at him and shifted closer to both mechs. They were currently on Ratchet's quarters, silently admiring how beautiful and perfect the little mechling was.

Suddenly Sunlit's attention fell on Optimus, his giant optics travelling from his handsome face to other parts of his frame, but they mainly focused on the elder's optics. "Hello, Sunlit" Optimus said very softly, almost whispering. "My name is Optimus Prime, and I'll be your..."

He trailed for a bit, looking at Ratchet in the optics for a while before smiling down at the sparkling. "...your adoptive Sire."

The little sparkling squeaked happily and raised his servos to Optimus' face, who gently took him in his arms and brought him closer to his face until both their forehelms were pressed together. Sunlit mewled in an affectionate way and caressed the other's silver faceplates.

Ratchet couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of the scene. Sunlit was so cute, so innocent, so good, so _perfect._  Who knew something so fragile and pure could come out of Megatron, lord of war and destruction?

Optimus lowered the mechling to his chestplates and began rocking him gently, humming a soothing tune as the sparkling squeaked and mewled at him, all the while staring right into his optics and waving his little servos.

"You're a very lucky mech, Ratchet. Your son is so perfect it's hard to believe that Megatron sired him." Optimus said with a smile and his optics still glued to the fragile little body resting in his arms.

He was so focused on the sparkling that he didn't notice Ratchet frowning.

Megatron... He was Sunlit's Sire. The one who had been keeping him for almost a full month, who had already begun to raise his little boy into a Decepticon warrior. And to just think that they had just entered the Nemesis and practically stolen him...!

What was he going to do? Megatron surely would want him back, no matter what. How were they supposed to hide from the evil tyrant and avoid having his son snatched away again?

The Prime finally looked up after a small period of silence, his warm smile twisting into a worried expression after seeing Ratchet's face. "Ratchet? What is wrong, my old friend?" He asked in his gentle and deep voice.

The medic was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. Lifting his gaze he met Optimus', and he shuddered a little. "Ah, I'm sorry. I was just... thinking."

The red and blue mech waited for the other to continue without saying a word. "I'm worried, Optimus. What will happen to Megatron? He clearly wanted to keep Sunlit, and I don't doubt he'll be looking for him soon. What are we going to do? I don't want to lose my little boy ever again!" He practically sobbed the last part, clutching Optimus' forearm tightly.

The Prime frowned at the medic's words. He was right, Megatron was going to start looking for Sunlit anytime now. It had been painfully obvious that the Autobots' prescence at the Nemesis was to rescue the sparkling, so he was _entirely_  sure the little one was with the Autobots.

Ratchet felt a warm servo resting on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ratchet. You are not alone anymore. We're a team, and together we'll keep Sunlit safe and away from Megatron."

The medic stared at Optimus for a while and he watched as a warm and lovely smile was drawn in his lips. He trusted Optimus, he really did, but in situations like this... he couldn't help but feel utterly alone and helpless.

Suddenly there was a sad whimper resonating in the air, and both mechs looked down to see Sunlit. The little one's optics were already watering up with oily tears, his little pedes kicking out and soft whimpers were escaping his throat.

Then Ratchet felt a strong wave of unhappy energy across the bond, and looking at his son once more, he understood. "Oh, sorry, little one. Carrier didn't mean to distress you." He stretched his arms out as Optimus handed him the sparkling who was whimpering even louder now.

Creator programming kicked in instantly and Ratchet pressed the young mechling to his chestplates, rocking him lightly and murmuring soothing words as he stroked his little helm and wiped away his tears. "There, there. Don't worry, Carrier is fine. Nothing you should feel scared about."

Optimus watched the whole time without muttering a single word, simply admiring how sweet Ratchet was to his young. It even was a little funny how he could hate the human children and completely love this little sparkling.

But of course; Sunlit was his own creation.

Sunlit sniffed a little and extended his little arms, asking for a hug. The medic's spark melted with cuteness as he lifted the mechling up to his face and nuzzled him, earning some happy squeaks and chirps from the younger one and he even felt his tiny external wings fluttering.

"You are a great Carrier." Optimus spoke up after a long silence. "Primus chose wisely when he chose you to bear such a beautiful thing." He reached the little one's helm with his servo and stroked lightly, making the sparkling squeak in surprise and turn his helm to see who was touching him.

Ratchet just smiled and turned his son around in his arms so he could properly face Optimus again. "I bet you're going to be a great Sire as well."

The Prime smiled back and kept stroking Sunlit's cheek with his digit, tracing the little red stripes going from under his optics to his chin, something he had got from his Carrier so preciously. The sparkling all the while chirped and mewled happily, sending loving waves of happiness across the bond even though only Ratchet could feel them.

Just when Optimus' finger got close enough to the mechling's mouth, this one snatched it between his lips, suckling greedily as he looked for something to refuel.

Optimus jumped a little in surprise, watching and feeling with interest how the little one latched onto his digit and started suckling desperately.

Ratchet noticed this too and quickly understood what his son wanted. "My, when was the last time you refueled?" He asked softly, gently pulling the sparkling away and craddling him closer to his chest.

Sunlit madd a whine of protest when his adoptive Sire's digit was forced out of his intake, looking up at his carrier with sad optics as his little tanks rumbled with hunger.

Ratchet was about to open his chest plating but suddenly remembered there was another mech in the room. "Um... Optimus," he began with a shy voice. "I need to feed Sunlit, so... Well, do you mind waiting for me outside?" He looked up with ashamed optics and a slight but cute blush on his cheeks.

The Prime didn't seem to understand at first but when he saw Sunlit pawing at the older mech's chest he got what was his friend saying. "Of course, my old friend. Take all the time you need. I'll wait for you with the others." He smiled at him and stroked Sunlit's helm once more before quietly retiring from the room.

Ratchet sighed after the door was finally closed. He sent the command to open his chestplates and began filling up his feeding pouches, trying to calm down from whatever thoughts he had in his processor as to not worry his sparkling.

Sunlit was such a precious little thing. Sweet, smart already and very cute; no wonder he had stolen everyone's sparks. It was pretty obvious he wasn't born to be a Decepticon. He could _never_ become what his Sire was, he was just too pure.

Ratchet should be grateful for being helped to rescue him before Megatron could corrupt him with his evil Decepticon ways.

There was a message popping in his helm, telling him his pouches were finally ready. He looked down to meet his sparkling's optics, which kept switching from his own and to his full feeding pouches, the little thing smacking his lips in anticipation.

Ratchet pulled Sunlit closer and as soon as he was in his pouches' grabbing range, he quickly latched onto one of the engorged nubs and began suckling the processed energon away, humming in contentment as his wings fluttered once more.

The old mech shuddered at the sudden feeling of warm energon flowing through his body, yet he didn't mind at all. At first it had been uncomfortable to him, but now, there was nothing else he'd like to do.

The last time he had fed Sunlit was when he was back in that horrible cell, surrounded by Decepticons and just before they could snatch his little son away from him.

He didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to enjoy this moment of solitude with his son, the mechling who he got to love ever since he knew he was carrying.

_You and me against the world,_   
_Sometimes it seems like you and me against the world,_   
_When all the others turn their backs and walked away,_   
_You can count on me to stay._

Ratchet began singing in a soft voice, gently stroking his little boy's back and watching him with the loving optics of a mother.

_Remember when the circus came to town_   
_How you were frightened by the clown,_   
_Wasn't it nice to be around someone that you knew,_   
_Someone who was big and strong and looking out for you._

Normally he would hate Earth culture references, but right now he couldn't care less. It was a song he had heard miss Darby singing, and luckily he remembered the lyrics.

_You and me against the world,_   
_Sometimes it seems like you and me against the world_   
_And for all the times we've cried I always felt that_   
_Primus was on our side._

_And when one of us is gone,_   
_And one of us is left to carry on,_   
_Then remembering will have to do,_   
_Our memories alone will get us through_   
_Think about the days of me and you,_   
_Of you and me against the world._

Before he knew it, Sunlit's optics had offlined and his little servo had curled around one of his own thick digits, the sparkling fastly in recharge. His carrier's voice and prescence lulled him alongside the warm energon that slowly filled his little tank, soothing all his senses and relaxing him more than ever.

Sunlit couldn't feel any safer cuddled up in his Carrier's embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. The song featured here is "You and Me Against the World" by Helen Reddy. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	14. What Next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow I found the inspiration to continue this. Sorry for the looong abscence time and for the short chapter, I tried my best (T3T)
> 
> -Rolling_girl27

"HOW COULD YOU _FOOLS_ LET THEM ESCAPE?!"

The roar of Megatron's voice echoed in the control room, rumbling loud and clear. No one had ever seen their Lord so enraged before, not even when he woke from stasis only to find Starscream trying to terminate Optimus Prime in his leader's name.

"It was the _only_ thing you had to do" the great gladiator growled, pacing back and forth to dissipate his rage. "I had Prime in my servos, I was fighting _him_ and his pathetic team of Autobots _alone,"_  he turned around to face his minions, "YET YOU COULDN'T KEEP MY SPARKLING AWAY FROM THREE OF THEM?!"

All of them flinched at the harsh tone, cowering, even those who never cowered. However, Starscream was the one to cower the most. Not only because it was in his nature to do so, but because unbeknownst to his leader, he had helped the Autobots get away with Megatron's heir in the first place.

"L-Lord Megatron... we _did_ try to stop them... w-we just don't know what went wrong!" One of the Vehicons began to explain, foolishly yet bravely in his comrades' opinion.

And foolish it was, because the moment he uttered those words, Megatron spun around and fired his plasma cannon right to his face, burning through the pristine metal and successfully offlining him, his lifeless carcass dropping to the floor with a ghoulish clank.

The room was filled with silence afterwards, all of the mechs in the room looking fearfully at their deceased comrade, some of them muttering among themselves. Soundwave stood as quiet as ever in a corner of the room, watching everything from afar. It did not surprise him the extreme outburst from his leader; this was not the first time Megatron had killed someone then and there.

Which made him feel even more relieved that Sunlit was now far, far away from him.

"Soundwave," Megatron suddenly barked. The slithe blue mech stepped forward, holding his helm high unlike the other soldiers in the room. "Play the secjrity cameras' footage. I want to see by myself what happened _exactly_."

Starscream's optics widened and his wings jerked with obvious fear. Lucky for him, he was out of Megatron's sight, so he didn't notice this. Once he knew that both of them were responsible for his sparkling's loss... Well, let's just say that it would be a miracle if he _only_ flayed them alive.

Soundwave took a moment before his visor projected static, then the images from the security cameras. They showed everything, from the moment when the ship's radar had detected the two Autobots outside to the heat of the battle, when Arcee, Knock Out and Ratchet were running down the hall with Starscream and Soundwave at their heels.

But nothing could be seen of the little show they put up in the makeshift nursery.

Megatron watched everything with intent optics, inspecting pixel by pixel to find something, _anything_ that actually could put the pieces together and make out where exactly did everybody frag up. But there was nothing special, just the proof that everyone (even Starscream) had put up a great fight to defend the Decepticon leader's son.

A low growl vibrated in his throat, threatening enough to make his soldiers take a step backwards. Soundwave turned off his visor, remaining as calm as he could be. Megatron had a lot of trust in him, so it would give him advantage in the sense that he wouldn't be the first suspect, although it made him feel bad for playing with his leader's trust just like that. They weren't _friends_ per se, but they had been companions and close allies since the very beggining of the cause.

"You will find him," Megatron rumbled after a period of silence. "You will bring back my son and his whore of a Carrier." He then looked over his shoulder and said, "it is the least you can do for losing him in the first place."

There could be heard some nervous gulps and quiet muttering, everyone wondering what the burning hell were those Autobots thinking when they infiltrated the ship and took Megatron's son away. Didn't they know that Megatron would literally rip their sparks out with his bare hands once he got a hold of them?

"But my Lord... what about the _other_ Autobots?" Steve spoke up despite his close comrades' insistant begging for him not to do so.

Megatron's engines rumbled. "I know that that medic is something special to Optimus." His optics were staring at nothing in particular, but behind them, memories of the times when the two mechs had portrayed closeness were playing. "Perhaps he'll enjoy watching me torture him."

The room was filled with even more muttering.

"As for the others," the warlord spoke again, "I will find a suitable use for each one them." Smelting them to make more weapons with their metal or giving them away as rewards to his top lieutenants, he wasn't sure. Both were enticing ideas, but they weren't as colse as enticing as what he'd do to that damn medic once he had him back.

Obviously, the first thing he was going to do was to take their son away. If he didn't have the right to raise him before, he had even less right to do so now. He himself had already proven capable of raising a child on his own, so there was no way he was letting him get close to Sunlit. Not again, not ever.

Oh, but how much suffering would he cause Prime and that medic once he had them under his claws. He'd force Optimus to watch as he tortured his loved companion, to watch as he defiled both his body and mind over and over again. There was no need to induce Prime any physical torture; watching his spark contract and twist in guilt and sorrow was enough for him.

He'd keep that medic tied to his berth and he'd frag him whenever he wanted and however he wanted. He wouldn't be a mech anymore, he'd just be a little slut for his personal use. His world from then on would revolve on pleasing him and only him. Once he was done with him, he'd be unrecognisable to anyone who had known him, even himself.

" _No one_ takes away what is mine" he said in a dark tone. "I will have both of them back, one way or another. I don't care if you die trying, you _will_ bring them to me in one piece." He then turned to face his army, "I don't think I need to say what will happen if any of them is harmed in any way."

Everyone gulped loudly, shaking their helms nervously. Their Lord was going serious with this one, and it would mean a certain death if they dared to disobey his orders.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Megatron roared at last. All the drones in the room -as well as Starscream- immediately fled from the room and either to the landing platforms or the elevator to begin their search. Hopefully their master would be calmer once they returned, but the chance of that was slim.

"You will remain here and look for any active Autobot signal" the grey mech directed to his Communications Officer. "This is a very important matter to me. Do not fail me, Soundwave."

The silent mech just gave a nod and watched as his leader stomped out of the Control Room. He felt so bad, everything was so wrong, he felt like the biggest traitor in the history of traitors for doing this to his leader, but he had seen it crystal clear: Megatron could _not_ be a proper Sire.

The only thing he could hope for was that Megatron forgot about Sunlit and looked for another 'mate' to concieve a new sparkling with.

* * *

"Aw, isn't he the cutest?" Smokescreen cooed at the little sparkling sitting in his high chair. Thanks to the children and the rest of the Autobot team, Ratchet had everything he needed to take care of his sparkling -including the little bitlet-, and he couldn't be any happier.

Sunlit laughed and waved his little servos towards the youngster. Smokescreen had a container with processed energon jelly inside it, as well as an adequate-sized spoon. "Here comes the choo-choo train!" He exclaimed just as he dipped the spoon in the paste and lifted it into the air. "Chugga chugga chugga chugga choo-choo!"

"Smokescreen, he's still too young to eat solid foods!" Ratchet scolded him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and slapping the young mech's servos. Said mech startled and took a step back, his doorwings lowered. "Aw, but I wanted to feed the little one, Ratch!"

"That's why he's got his Carrier, genius." Arcee commented just as she was passing by, carrying a box full of toys. Ratchet bent down to pick Sunlit up, the little thing squealing in joy upon seeing his Carrier's faceplates. "His tanks are still not developed enough to process solid energon; it may even clog them." The medic explained. "If you wanted to feed him, you could have just taken a bottle instead."

The blue and yellow mech pouted slightly, but then an idea crossed his processor. "Well, can I feed him with a bottle, then?" A wide grin was plastered over his face and his optics seemed to shine with excitement, as if he was a good sparkling expecting to be rewarded.

"No, because it is time for his stasis nap."

"But Raaaaaaaaatch!" Smokescreen whined, throwing his helm back and bending his knees. "You _barely_ let me get close to him! Can't I just, like, hold him for a second or so?"

"Jeez, you're more of a sparkling than Sunlit is!" The old mech commented, rolling his optics. Sunlit laughed at his Carrier's expression, kicking his little pedes and stretching his tiny arms to reach for his faceplates. "Or isn't he, my little mech?" The medic cooed, adjusting the little one in his arms.

"I am _not_ a sparkling!" The young mech huffed, stomping a pede on the ground. "It's just that it's been vorns since I've seen an _alive_ one and I'm excited about it, okay?!" His cheeks flushed a little in embarassment.

"We all are, Smokescreen." The gentle voice of Optimus Prime rumbled in the room. "And as much as we are happy to have Sunlit in our team, it would be best to listen to Ratchet." He glanced at his friend and gave him a reassuring smile, "As I believe humans say, 'mother knows best'."

"...and mother says that this little mech is in need for a nap." Ratchet chuckled, watching his son's optics dimming as he struggled to stay awake.

Sunlit was still very young, his systems were not ready to remain active for long and he consumed his energon reservoirs as twice as fast as an adult 'bot, so the only two things that he seemed to do everyday were refuel and recharge.

That's why Ratchet was carrying him over to his and Optimus' quarters, the place where they had set everything for the little one so it was safe and private, but also easy to reach. It was very useful when Sunlit woke up in the middle of the night, even if he never cried for too long.

"I'm very happy for Ratchet," Bumblebee commented with a good-natured smile. "But... what about Megatron? Don't you think that maybe, I don't know, he's already looking for us?" His doorwings lowered slightly in nervousness as he tapped the tips of his index fingers together.

"That is a possibility I have been thinking about, Bumblebee." Optimus said. "Megatron nor any of his Decepticons know the exact location of our base, so we can be sure that we will be safe here for the time being."

"Yeah, but that's not going to stop him for long." Knock Out spoke up with his servos on his hips. "I've seen what he is capable of doing to get what he wants, and it's not pretty." A chill ran up his spine at the memories. "We _can't_ let Sunlit fall into his servos again."

"It should be easy for him, though." Bulkhead said. "He's got a whole army, and we are only six 'bots. Plus, he's got an exceedingly good spymaster and a crazy seeker. We are no match against them." He shook his helm, defeated.

"Actually..." Arcee started, her optics slightly unfocused as a memory played behind them. "Both Soundwave and Starscream helped us get away with Sunlit." She turned to look at Bulkhead. "Apparently, they agree that Megatron isn't fit to be a Sire."

"But that can change." Knock Out protested. "I know those two mechs better than any of you do, and I can assure you that Starscream will change his mind depending on the odds." The red mech explained, "We can't trust in him. And as for Soundwave, he has undying loyalty to Megatron; he'd never betray him." He sighed. "Which means that he can turn tables as easily as Starscream."

"So we can't count on any of them." Bulkhead asked, though it was more a statement than a question. "What options do we have, then? We can't hide forever!"

"What if they use the humans as bait?" Bumblebee asked, worried. "Or even worse, what if they use the _kids_ as bait?!"

"We won't let that happen." Optimus stepped in. "The children will remain under their respective guardians' care, and are not to engage in battle. As for Sunlit, I believe it would be best for him to remain in the base for as long as possible. Ratchet will remain here to look after him, and will only go outside when it is _entirely_ necessary. Do you understand, Autobots?"

Everyone in the room nodded firmly. Optimus gave a single nod in response. "Good. Right now, the children and Sunlit are our priority. We cannot let the Decepticons lay a servo on any of them."

It was easier said than done. Since Ratchet's capture, Optimus had started to doubt about himself. He had allowed Megatron's soldiers to destroy their base and kidnap his old friend, then took him against his will and sparked a son with him. Even if they had found him it didn't change the fact that Megatron had already hurt him, and even separated him from his son. They retrieved Sunlit as well, but if Megatron found a way to get his filthy claws on the little mechling or his Carrier... Optimus could never forgive himself.

Poor Ratchet had already experienced too much things to have his son taken away a second time. They both had to be protected, and Optimus was more than happy and determined to comply.

As for Megatron... well, he would find a suitable punishment for him eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot to tell...
> 
> Sorry If I have left my other multi-chapter stories unattended lately. The school year is /finally/ almost over and I have some duties left, but from this week's Thursday evening to some day in August I'll be free as a bird and I'll have all the time in the world to write :3
> 
> I'm really sorry to keep you waiting, just hold on for three more days, please!
> 
> Thank you!  
> -Rolling_girl27


End file.
